The Difference Parents Can Make
by Tixxana
Summary: What would Harry's life be like if his parents had never died?
1. Prologue: The Beginning of It All

**Prologue: The Beginning of It All  
**  
It was a dark night. Lightning flashed across the sky illuminating a house on top of a hill with several houses surrounding the hill.  
  
Only a single light was on in the Godric's Hollow that held the Potter family. However, from the outside, it looked as though no one was home. An charm had been placed on the house to keep the family safe from the impending doom that lurked around every corner outside.  
  
This particular house looked like any other typical house, but the owners were not typical at all. If fact, they were anything but normal. They were wizards.  
  
The yard was well tended to. Small flower gardens lay below both front windows. Surrounding the perimeter of the yard was a white picket-fence. There were several trees spread throughout the yard. It seemed as though normal people would live here.  
  
Inside of the single lit room, there was a small child in his high chair, Harry, with three people surrounding him. Two of them were his parents, Lily and James Potter, the other was a friend, Sirius Black. The parents looked frazzled and worn out, the third seemed calm and alert.  
  
"...his godfather, Sirius," Lily said to Sirius.  
  
A smile overcame his solemn face. "Thank you so much!" Sirius said almost too loudly.  
  
James looked at Sirius. "Are you sure we should switch to Peter Pettigrew as our secret-keeper?"  
  
Sirius's mouth formed the word 'yes', but no sound came out. He had a sensation that if they changed to Pettigrew, something would go wrong. His stomach gave a lurch.  
  
"Sirius?" Lily asked, looking longingly at Sirius for an answer.  
  
"No," he finally said. "Leave me as your secret-keeper." Both Lily and James smiled a smile of relief. Sirius forced a smile back, knowing he should have told his two best friends the truth. It was pushed out of his mind as James began to talk to Sirius about other matters, as Lily went to open the curtain to make sure no one was out there.  
  
From inside the kitchen, Sirius and James both heard a scream. James ran out to see what the scream was about, Sirius at his heels. Lily had fallen into a chair, in disbelief. "He...he..."  
  
"What Lily?!" James cried, grabbing Lily by the shoulders, his hands digging into her shoulders.  
  
"He's here!" Lily barely managed to say. James's jaw dropped as he almost fainted in skepticism. Sirius stood in doubt, muttering words to himself. He had turned extremely pale. James and Lily could only manage to decipher a few of the words.  
  
"...find us?" "...stupid...fool I've..." Sirius barely said. He went to the window just in time. A beam of light was coming through the keyhole. The light was directed exactly where he had been standing. "He's coming in!" Sirius scarcely said. Grabbing Lily and James by their robes, he dragged them into the kitchen. The door flew open and a dark-veiled figure began to come towards the kitchen.  
  
James and Sirius both tried to grab Lily, but she was too quick. She ran over to the child, who sat, smiling and unknowing, and began to unbuckle him from his highchair.  
  
"Lily! There isn't time!" Sirius cried. "Let him go!!" He pulled on her arm, but she wrenched away from his grip. James muttered something to Sirius who went into a connecting room.  
  
"NO!" She screamed. She was shaking madly, she couldn't unbuckle the child. "I CAN'T GET IT...UNBUCKLED!!" Lily collapsed into James' outreached arms, beginning to weep. Dragging her around the corner, the shadowed figure entered the kitchen.  
  
The figure made his way towards the grinning child. It began to pull out his wand. The tip of the man's wand touched the child's forehead as he began to mutter a spell.  
  
From around the corner, James watched, Lily put her hands over her eyes, still sobbing uncontrollably, James' eyes horrorstricken. Sirius looked at James and noticed how he was rocking back and forth, tears began streaming down his face. Sirius assumed that he was fighting the urge to save the child. Sirius retreated to a corner where he could still see what was going on. He continued to mutter to himself, but James paid no heed to him. "All...fault......shouldn't be happening..." Sirius's mind was going at war with itself. He, also, was fighting the urge to sacrifice his life to save the child.  
  
A green light was emitted from the man's wand. As the light stopped, Lily cried out loudly and fainted, tears still streaming down her face onto James's arm. Sirius closed his eyes burying his head in his lap. James closed his eyes tightly, his chin resting on Lily's head. James and Sirius listened intently for screaming.  
  
Instead of hearing a child scream, they heard the figure scream instead. James looked at the figure as it collapsed onto the floor. Nothing was left but the cloak. James' eyes quickly went to look at the child, who was slumped over in his chair. James began to walk over to the child.  
  
Lily had woken up and realized what was going on. She began to sob once again as James brought back the fragile child.  
  
"Is..is..." Lily tried to say. "Is...he...dead?" She pointed to her son, who was still lying limp in James's cradled arms.  
  
James did not reply, so Lily buried her face in her arms again. Her shoulders moved uncontrollably. Sirius went over to comfort Lily, gently hugging her. "James," Sirius began. "Is Harry dead?"  
  
"No." James said blandly, mystified as to why Harry wasn't dead. "He's still living." Lily barely caught what he said as her head shot up. "What?!" Lily said. Her eyes were bloodshot and red, her face tearstained. Her red hair was pulled back into a ponytail, her cloak was wet in spots where her tears had fallen. Her mouth was agape as she waited for an answer.  
  
"He's not dead," James replied. "Harry's still living." Lily still stared at him, unbelieving.  
  
"But if he's not dead, then what happened to Voldemort?" Lily was confused, she put her hand to her forehead trying to understand what was going on.  
  
"Lily, even I don't know that," James said. Sirius look as puzzled as either of them, but his mind was churning with answers.  
  
"Maybe," Sirius began slowly. James and Lily looked at him, their expressions waiting for some kind of answer. "Maybe since all of us wished that we could stop Voldemort from killing Harry, maybe we gave him protection from dying from the Killing Curse." Their faces were still puzzled, but Lily understood Sirius. She smiled at him and he quickly said, "But it's just a theory and nothing more."  
  
"But it's quite possible," Lily said, overjoyed. James and Lily sat, huddled together, smiling at Sirius for his cunning mind. All of a sudden, Harry awoke with a start and began to cry. Lily quickly scooped Harry out of James's arms. He continued to cry.  
  
"Oh," her voice was surprised, but saddened. "James, look." Lily pointed to Harry's forehead. "He only has a scar." Although it was only a scar, it was bleeding quite freely. Lily ripped a bit of her cloak off and wrapped it around Harry's forehead. "It must really hurt because he hasn't stopped crying." She smiled down at her son. "I'm just glad that he's alive!!"  
  
She stood up with Harry as his crying began to subside. He stared into his mother's eyes. His green eyes matched hers. Lily began to walk out to the family room, James and Sirius clasping each other on the shoulders, followed her out. She sat herself down in a chair as James and Sirius followed suit. All of a sudden, there was a "Hel...Hello?" at the door that was still open from when Voldemort had opened it.  
  
"Come on in!" Lily said, still happy.  
  
There was a sudden yelp from outside. Lily, looking puzzled, handed Harry to James and walked over to the door. "May I help you?" she asked.  
  
"Oh my goodness!" It was Minevra McGonagall. "You're alive!!" She ran in and hugged Lily.  
  
"I know, I can't believe it either!!" Lily cried.  
  
"Well, well, well," said a voice from behind them. It was Alastor Moody. "It seems that this was a false alarm, Dumbledore."  
  
"I don't think Miss Potter is telling the whole story," Albus Dumbledore said from behind Moody.  
  
"Oh," Lily said, pushing away from McGonagall. "Come in please!" She gestured towards the family room. Sirius and James both stood up to welcome the bunch.  
  
Dumbledore sat down on the couch next to Lily, who took Harry back from James. McGonagall took a seat in a rocking chair and Moody took a seat in an armchair.  
  
"Ah, so this is Harry!" Dumbledore picked Harry up from Lily's lap. He look questioningly at the piece of robe tied to his forehead. "But...Ah, yes I think I see what has happened." McGonagall and Moody looked at Dumbledore with questioning looks. "But I believe that James, Lily, and Mr. Black should tell the story."  
  
And so they did. They included every detail, but Sirius did not say one thing about his muttering. But Sirius did include his theory When they finished, Dumbledore sighed.  
  
"So it is what I suspected," he said, his blue eyes twinkling. "And Sirius, I believe that your theory may be true."  
  
"And," Lily began, choking down a sob. "Have you found the Death-Eaters that ruined the Longbottom's memories?"  
  
"No," Moody growled angrily. "Most Death-Eater fled tonight when they felt the Dark Mark on their arms disappear. They knew something had gone wrong." No one dared to ask the question how Voldemort had found the Potters.  
  
Lily sighed. Dumbledore sat, staring out the window, muttering in an ancient language. McGonagall then said, "I think it has been a stressful night. We should let you all rest." Dumbledore nodded as he motioned for McGonagall and Moody to follow. They left quickly, saying goodbye briefly to the three of them.  
  
Lily and James said goodnight to Sirius, who had decided to stay for the night. Lily laid Harry down in his crib and closed the door to their room. Sirius went to the kitchen and pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill, scribbled down a note to James and Lily, and ran out the front door, a look of loathing plastered upon his face...  
  
Heh. Aren't I evil? 


	2. Chapter 1: Harry's Birthday

Chapter One: Birthday  
  
"Harry..." The eloquent word interrupted his dreams. "Harry..." It said again. "Harry!" This time, the voice was sterner. "Wake up!"  
  
Harry opened his emerald eyes and found himself looking into the same emerald eyes that his mother had. "Mum!" Harry said. "Why'd you have to wake me up so early..." Harry looked at the clock. It read 10:45 am.  
  
"Oh, Harry," Lily said, shaking her head. "It's your birthday! You don't want to sleep through your own birthday, now do you?" Her red hair was tied back in the same way it had been eleven years ago. She had on a short- sleeved, emerald shirt that matched her eyes and blue-jean capris on. "Now wake up, and get up!" Lily said as she pulled up the curtains to reveal a cloudless morning. "You're breakfast is getting cold!" She called as she walked down the stairs.  
  
"I don't care," Harry replied in a mocking way.  
  
"But it's your favorite!" The reply was a mutter from Harry.  
  
"Alright!"  
  
Throwing on a T-shirt and a pair of blue-jeans, Harry headed downstairs into the kitchen, which was decorated with streamers for the festivity of the day. Sitting at the table was his father, whom he looked just like (except for the eyes), his mother, who was setting down a large plateful of pancakes, and his eight-year-old sister, Brooke, who had the same curly red hair, but she had light-green eyes. To Harry, she seemed rather bored with the breakfast.  
  
"Happy Birthday Harry!" Brooke and his parents said.  
  
"Thanks." Harry said in reply. He was about to say something more, but a brown owl flew through the window and landed right next to the pancakes, which was normal for this family. Attached to his leg was a letter. Lily quickly grabbed the letter and shooed the owl over to the counter, in fear that it might begin to eat the pancakes. Smiling, she handed it over to Harry.  
  
"Here you are!" Lily said.  
  
"Is it a birthday card or something?" Harry asked, turning it over in his hands.  
  
"Open it!" James said. Harry ripped the seal that had a 'H' imprinted on it.  
  
Inside of the relatively small envelope, several papers were neatly folded. Unfolding the first paper, Harry found that it wasn't a birthday card. It was a letter. The top of the first letter stated:  
  
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)  
  
Reading out loud:  
  
"Dear Mr. Potter,  
  
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.  
  
Term begins on September the First. We await your owl by no later than July 31.  
  
Yours sincerely,  
  
Minevera McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress."  
  
"I guess it arrived a bit late," James said.  
  
"No matter! We'll just send our response anyway," Lily replied cheerfully taking the letter. She scribbled a few words on it and tied it to the owl's leg. "Go fast!" Lily muttered to the owl. It hooted in response as it flew swiftly out of the window.  
  
Harry set down the letter and unfolded the second piece of paper. It was a larger and much longer piece of paper than the . "It's a list," Harry said, "of books and clothing I need for Hogwarts!"  
  
"Well then, eat your breakfast, and we will go to Diagon Alley!" Lily said.  
  
Harry greedily devoured the pancakes Lily set in front of him. Washing his dishes, he dried his hands and waited by the fireplace to leave.  
  
"We are traveling by Floo, right?" Brooke asked as she entered the family room.  
  
"Of course," replied Harry. "Why wouldn't we? It's the easiest and quickest way to get to Diagon Alley." Finally, after minutes of bickering with Brooke, Lily and James finally came in.  
  
"All right, calm down both of you!" Lily said, her voice stern. Harry and Brooke both stopped talking and looked intently at their mother. "Harry, would you like to go first?" Lily asked, the pot of Floo powder outreached in her hand.  
  
"Sure," Harry replied, taking a handful of the gritty powder. Stepping into the fireplace, he said loudly, "Diagon Alley," and threw down the powder. Green fire enveloped his entire body as he left his house and made his way, by the travels of Floo Powder, to Diagon Alley. 


	3. Chapter 2: Diagon Alley

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--= -:¦:- (( °º ° "(¨v´¨)::" °..··.... ·· ..° ..·°-:¦:- v´ -:¦:- °·.. °.. ·· .... ·· ..° -:¦:- °.. ·· .... ·· .:.° -:¦:- Random designs!  
  
Author's note: Brooke is supposed to be 9, not eight. Sorry, I forgot to change it when I re-updated the chapter.  
  
Chapter Two: Diagon Alley  
  
As the flames cleared away, Harry found that he was face-to-face with a brick wall. Moments later, Lily, James, and Brooke all appeared behind him.  
  
"We're here!" James said. "Move aside, please, Harry." James stepped passed Harry towards the brick wall. As he drew his wand, they all heard steps coming down the stairs. James faced the person as it opened.  
  
"T-T-Terribly sorry," the man said, looking directly at James.  
  
"Quirrell?" James asked the man.  
  
"P-P-Potter?" Quirrell replied.  
  
"Nice to see you again," James said. "What brings you to the Leaky Cauldron? Are you heading in to Diagon Alley?"  
  
"Y-Y-Yes," Quirrell replied. "I'm the t-teacher for D-Defense Against the D- Dark A-Arts. Is that Harry?" He asked abruptly in the conversation.  
  
"Yes, that's him," James said, looking back at Harry who had withdrawn to a corner of the room.  
  
"N-N-Not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously. Yes, Harry knew the story. He had heard it almost a thousand times.  
  
"You'll be getting all your equipment, I s-s-suppose," Quirrell said, continuing the conversation. "I've g-g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on v-v- vampires." To Harry, he looked terrified at the very thought.  
  
"Well, can we enter please?" Lily asked, bringing out her wand and tapping several bricks. The magically formed an archway. All five of them entered at the same time.  
  
"See you at Hogwarts, I suppose," Harry called after Quirrell. No response came, except for a sharp pain in his scar. Harry's hand shot up to his forehead.  
  
"Harry, dear," Lily asked, "are you alright?" Worry flashed in her eyes.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine," Harry replied. The pain had left as fast as it had come. "Let's see, I need a whole bunch of books, a wand, and some other stuff." Harry really didn't care to read them all off, he just handed the list to Lily.  
  
"Well, let's go to Ollivanders wand shop," James said as they headed towards the old wooden building. The sign on the front of the building said:  
  
OLLIVANDERS: MAKERS OF FINE WANDS SINCE 3823 B.C.  
  
When Harry entered, no one was at the desk. Cautiously, Harry rang the bell. A wizened man came rolling towards him on a ladder.  
  
"My Word!" the man said. "I always have waited for the day when Lily and James's child would enter my shop. Hello there, Harry!"  
  
"Hello," Harry replied. He had been to Diagon Alley before, but he had never entered this shop before.  
  
"Let's see," Mr. Ollivander said, ignoring Harry's greeting. His finger passed over several boxes. "Ah!" he pulled out a box. "Give it a wave!" He handed the wand to Harry. As he waved the wand, boxes flew out of shelves. "Nope, not it!" Ollivander said, taking the wand away and placing another one in its place. As Harry waved this one, a glass vase broke. "No, definitely not it!" he said, exasperated. After many moments of searching, Ollivander muttered, "I wonder," as he pulled out a box. "Holly and Phoenix feather, nine inches, nice and supple." Harry took the wand and warmth spread throughout his hand.  
  
"Curious, yes, very curious."  
  
"Sorry, what's curious?" Harry asked.  
  
"I remember every wand I've ever sold. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave one other feather, just one. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother," he paused, "gave you that scar." A small gasp was emitted from Brooke. A light shush came from Lily.  
  
Harry had never known that. He was never told anything like that. His parents didn't know, did they?  
  
Ollivander continued. "The wand chooses the wizard, remember...I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter...After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be- Named did great things—Terrible, yes, but great." His eyes had a slight twinkle in them as they left his shop.  
  
His parents pointed Harry and Brooke to Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions as they went to get his books.  
  
As Harry and Brooke entered, Madam Malkin came up to him and asked, "Hogwarts?" He nodded. "Follow Me." They both followed. Another person was already being measured.  
  
The other boy was standing on a stool, his silver-blonde hair was slicked back, his face came to a point. Harry was forced to stand next to the boy. Brooke stood off to the side as the other boy began to talk to Harry.  
  
"Hello," the boy said to Harry. "You're going to Hogwarts, too, I suppose." Harry nodded, but the boy paid no attention to him. He continued to talk. "Have you thought about what House you'll be in?" Harry shook his head. "I imagine I'll be in Slytherin. All of my family has been. Imagine if you were in Hufflepuff!"  
  
"Yeah," Harry said, not paying attention.  
  
"So, where are your parents?" The boy asked. "Mine are next door. They're buying my books."  
  
"My parents are there, also," Harry replied. After a few moments of silence, Madam Malkin came in with both of their robes. "You're done, both of you." As she said this, there was a crash from next door.  
  
"Come on Brooke," Harry said, happy to hop off of the stool, robes in hand. "Let's make sure that everything's alright next door."  
  
As they exited the shop, they noticed that the boy from the robe shop hand entered the book store a few moments before they had. As Harry opened the door, he heard a gasp from the boy. Harry shoved his way through the crowd.  
  
"Father!" The boy cried.  
  
"Dad!" Harry and Brooke said.  
  
"What in the Bloody Hell is going on here?" The boy said.  
  
"Draco," the man started, but he couldn't think of an excuse to tell his son, blood coming out of his lip.  
  
"And why are you fighting with these...Commoners?" Draco said.  
  
"COMMONERS?!" Harry said, infuriated at the boy. He could tell already who he wasn't going to like at Hogwarts.  
  
"What's it to you?" Draco replied, his words edged in venom, his clear blue eyes piercing Harry's gaze.  
  
"That's my father!" Harry cried, pointing to the man sitting in the collapsed book case. James was rubbing his forehead, his mint green eyes darting between Lucius and Draco.  
  
"Oh," Draco said sarcastically. "I didn't know that was your father." Harry hated Draco with every second that passed. He took a step towards Draco, but James stopped him.  
  
"Harry, don't," James said warningly, standing up. He brushed the dust off of his shoulders, swinging the bag of books over his shoulder. "It's not worth it." As he walked passed Lucius he muttered something. James motioned Brooke and Harry out of the store.  
  
"Where's mama?" Brooke asked. She seemed utterly frightened by what had just happened.  
  
"She was in a different shop. We're meeting her at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor." James motioned to a shop down the street. "Remember, both of you, what happened in the bookshop never happened, okay?"  
  
"Okay!" They both said.  
  
When all three of them reached the shop, Lily was sitting at a table, a large item covered with her robe, talking to another family.  
  
"Harry, HARRY!" Lily cried when they reached the table. "I've got something for you!" She pulled the robe off of the item. "Happy Birthday!"  
  
It was an owl cage. Inside, a snowy-white owl sat, hooting. "Meet Hedwig!" The man whom she was talking to smiled.  
  
"Well, we better be off!" He said. "Nice seeing you again, Lily!"  
  
"Bye Arthur!" Lily said as the man walked away. Turning to James she said, "That was Arthur Weasley and his family. Well, anyway, Harry, do you like Hedwig?"  
  
"I love her!" he replied smiling at the owl.  
  
"Well good!" Lily said. "I think it would be best if we were to head home, it's getting late!"  
  
Taking Hedwig, Harry followed his parents to where they had entered at. He threw down the Floo Powder and returned home.  
  
There, I finally updated. I will be going on vacation for a few weeks in the beginning of June, and exams are coming up, so be patient once again! 


	4. Chapter 3: Platform 9 &34 and the Hogwar

**A Note From Kris:** Ti, I tried uploading the chapter again. Hopefully this one works. I don't know why the messed up one won't delete...  
  
Ok, author's note: Once again, Brooke is ten. I keep forgetting to change it.  
  
Chapter Three: Platform Nine and Three-Quarters and The Hogwarts Express  
  
When Harry and the rest of his family returned home, it was already late into the evening. They had eaten so much junk at Diagon Alley that not one of them were hungry. Harry brought Hedwig and her cage into his room, setting it on his already messy desk. James followed Harry, bringing all of his other supplies for Hogwarts and setting them in the corner of his room. Lily stood in the doorway, a sleeping Brooke cradled like a baby in her arms. She silently mouthed to James something that Harry couldn't quite catch. She left the doorway as she went to put Brooke into her bed. James left, following Lily into Brooke's bedroom.  
  
Harry lay on his bed in his darkened room, the only source of light was from his open doorway. His mind was in a buzz after the day's adventure. After a few minutes of silence, James and Lily came back into Harry's room, assuming Harry was asleep.  
  
"I brought my trunk down from the attic that he can use," James whispered.  
  
"Set it in the corner with all of his other stuff," Lily said. "It's a pity that he's such a slob, throwing his stuff all over his room." She kicked his cauldron out of the way. James turned away, trying to conceal his guilty look. "I just wish..." Harry didn't hear the rest. He began to drift into a dream about what Hogwarts would be like. Lily and James continued to talk.  
  
"He'll be leaving in less than a month," James said, looking at the now- sleeping Harry.  
  
"I know," Lily said, covering him up with a blanket. "He's growing up so fast." A singly tear formed in her eye. "It still haunts me to-remember that-dreadful night!"  
  
James walked over and put a comforting arm around Lily. "I felt so helpless when I couldn't get him out of his chair. If I wouldn't have fainted, I would..." A sob escaped her. "I would have died to protect him."  
  
James gently pushed Lily out of the room as he closed the door, leaving Harry alone.  
  
One month later, Harry was dragging his trunk and Hedwig's cage into the car. "Come ooon, Harry!" Brooke said, antagonizing Harry. "You don't want to be late, do you?" she said, putting a long stress on 'late'. Harry shot her a glare and she stopped, but a smile was still plastered on her face. He slammed the trunk shut as he heaved Hedwig's cage into the backseat. The car rolled down the driveway. Harry was beginning his journey to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.  
  
Just 30 minutes later, Harry was standing inside of The King's Crossing Station, pulling his trunk behind him. It was so overcrowded that no one seemed to notice how out-of-place his family looked. Harry eagerly followed his mother and father as they headed to Platform 9 & ?. Along the way, Harry could've sworn he heard someone say, "Every year, always packed with Muggles!"  
  
Harry's family finally halted. "Here we are!" James exclaimed. Harry looked, puzzled. All he saw was a brick barrier between Platform's Nine and Ten. A large red-headed family stood around it, waiting. Finally, one at a time, they each ran straight to toward the barrier. Instead of crashing into it, they went straight through, disappearing into it.  
  
"Come on, Harry!" Lily said. "You don't want to be late!" Pulling Harry and his cart, Lily walked them through the barrier. Everything went dark at once.  
  
Then, suddenly, as if light had just been born, Harry could see once more. What he saw was a large, red, steam-engine. It was sitting on train tracks, waiting to escort the eager children to school. A large clock gong rang repeatedly, issuing a warning.  
  
"Hurry along, Harry!" Lily said, smiling brightly. "I am sure that you don't want to miss the train to school!" Lily hugged Harry for a final time and wouldn't let go until James pried her away. He patted Harry on the back.  
  
"Go and board the train," James said. "Before your mother tries to hug you again!" He added so only Harry could hear.  
  
"Bye!" Brooke said.  
  
"Bye," Harry replied. As he boarded the train, Lily cried, "Send us an owl when you get there!" He nodded so she knew he had heard her.  
  
Harry dragged his belongings up the stairs and onto the train.  
  
After many minutes of searching, Harry found an empty cabin, although it wasn't empty for very long.  
  
"Do you mind? Everywhere else is full," a boy with flaming red hair asked Harry.  
  
"Notatall," Harry replied, his words bunched together. He gestured to the empty seat across from him.  
  
"Thanks!" The boy replied, eagerly taking the seat. He glanced at Harry, his blue eyes widening. "You're-You're Harry Potter!"  
  
"Yes I am," Harry replied, dully. He was quite sick of hearing about his life story. He also hated to be gawked at by people he didn't know, it was rather disturbing to him.  
  
"Oh, well, er," the boy said, noticing Harry's discomfort. "I'm Ron. Ron Weasley. Nice to meet you! And this is Scabbers," he gestured at the fat rat sitting on his lap. "He's rather pathetic."  
  
"Nice to meet you, too, Ron," Harry replied looking at Scabbers. He was glad that this boy could at least put his act together when he was around Harry.  
  
Suddenly, he heard a tapping at the door. Two twins, both with flaming red hair like Ron's, were standing outside their compartment, waving. One of the twins opened the door.  
  
"Blimey, Ron," said the one on the left. "Whatcha doin' sitting with Harry Potter?" A smirk formed on the other twins' face.  
  
"Sod off!" Ron said, his ears turning magenta.  
  
"Ooooh, 'ickle Ronni-" said the twin on the right, but Ron interrupted him.  
  
"Harry," Ron said loudly, "these are two of my brothers; Fred and George."  
  
"Hullo," Harry said to them both.  
  
"Why Harry, terrifically splendid to meet you!" said George.  
  
"Exquisitely fantastic to know that you are going to be attending the equally splendid school that is Hogwarts!" Fred said.  
  
"Alright, that's ENOUGH!" said another person from behind them. He also had flaming red hair, but he had a prefect badge on.  
  
"What?" asked Fred, or George, innocently. "We weren't making fun of you, honest!"  
  
"Well, don't do it again, or I'll give you a detention!"  
  
"That's Percy," Ron muttered out of the side of his mouth.  
  
Percy shoved his way in front of the twins and stood erect in front of Harry. "It's a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Potter," Percy said, trying to impress Harry.  
  
"Hey, Perc!" Ron said, annoyed. "Don't you have prefect duties to do?" Fred and George were having a fit of silent laughter.  
  
"Oh, Fine, Ronald," Percy said, easily annoyed with his younger brother. "I'll be on my way." He cast a glare at Fred and George who had stopped laughing, but they still had smirks on their faces. "Harry, I trust that you will behave yourself while you attend Hogwarts?"  
  
"Sure," Harry said lazily.  
  
"Good," Percy replied. "And Ronald, don't follow in the footsteps of these two here. Try to follow a better example." He paused. "Like me." He cast a glance at Ron who had turned red in the ears again. "Well, I best be off. I will be seeing you again."  
  
"It's been splendid!" Fred said.  
  
"Utterly delightful!" George called after Percy who had slammed the door. On a different note, George said, "What a git he is!"  
  
"Well, nice seeing you," Ron said, getting up and pushing the twins out the door. "Blimey, those two. I can't stand having five brothers!"  
  
"YOU'VE GOT FIVE BROTHERS?!" Harry said, almost yelling because he was so surprised.  
  
"Yeah, and I'd rather not get into details now," Ron said. "But-" there was a tap at the door.  
  
"Anything off the cart, dears?" asked a smiling, dimpled woman pushing the cart.  
  
"No thanks, I'm all set," Ron said, holding up a dilapidated sandwich. Harry felt bad for Ron. So...  
  
"We'll take the lot!" Harry said, holding out several galleons.  
  
After stuffing themselves full, a girl with brown bushy hair entered.  
  
"Have either of you seen a toad?" she asked. "A boy named Neville's lost his."  
  
"No." Ron said, puzzled.  
  
The girl look at Ron rather quizzically. She then turned to Harry. "You must be Harry Potter. I'm Hermione Granger," she said. Ron snorted. Hermione looked at him with a glare, and snidely asked, "And...you are?"  
  
"Oh," Ron said, with a mouthful of chocolate frogs. "RomWasly."  
  
"Well," Hermione said. "If you find Neville's toad, take it to the front of the train." She turned around to leave, but stopped and said, "And you might want to change, we're nearing Hogwarts." Hermione turned to leave again, but stopped and said, "You have a little something on your nose." She pointed at Ron, who wiped it away. This time, Hermione did leave and Ron slammed the door shut after her.  
  
"Know-It-All," he said. Harry forced a smile, but he thought that Hermione was perfectly fine. Ron, on the other hand, despised her at the moment.  
  
Casting aside the candy and the wrappers, Harry and Ron both changed into their robes as the train slowed down. They hurriedly packed up their things and began to pack up when Percy came and opened up their cart door. "Hurry up, come on! We haven't got all day!"  
  
"Sod off, Perc!" Ron snarled at him.  
  
"Watch it Ronald," Percy replied, "or I'll send an owl to Mother!" He took off down the train, yelling at each compartment to hurry up.  
  
" 'Watch it Percy the Prefect'!" Ron muttered to Harry.  
  
They decided to get off of the train before Percy could yell at them again. As they stepped off the train, they heard a booming voice.  
  
"Firs' years thi' way!" A large man boomed.  
  
"Hey Hagrid!" Harry said.  
  
"Well 'ello there, 'Arry!" Hagrid replied.  
  
"You know him?!" Ron asked, gawking at the large man.  
  
" 'Course I do!" Harry replied. "He used to stop by my house when I was little to make sure my parents were doing fine. Didn't you Hagrid?"  
  
"Sure I did!" Hagrid replied, still motioning first years to follow him. He began to walk. "I was jus' so worrie' tha' your paren's were goin' ter snap after wha' 'ad 'appened to yeh. I 'elped 'em out a lot ter th' time. I'm sure they 'ppreciated it all. FIRS' YEARS THI' WAY!"  
  
Harry smiled. "They did appreciated it, Hagrid."  
  
"Wonderfu' paren's yeh got there 'Arry. Never lose 'em," Hagrid said. They had reached the boats. "FOUR TER A BOAT!" Hagrid climbed into the first one as did Ron and Harry. There wasn't anymore room for anyone else.  
  
"Blimey, 'Arry," Hagrid said, finally getting a good look at Harry. "Yeh've grown up so muc'h sin' th' las' time I saw yeh. Yew was proaly 'bout six or 'even. How'er yer paren's?"  
  
"Oh, they're good. They're happy I got accepted to Hogwarts," Harry replied. "I wish you would've visited some more, Hagrid. I really miss your visits."  
  
"Well, er," Hagrid felt honored. "Yeh shoud've sent me a' owl or somethin'. I woud've come ter visit yeh agai'." He paused, took a deep breath, then said, "OK, YE'LL BE SEEIN' YER FIRS' GLIMPSE OF 'OGWARTS JUS' AROUN' TH' BEND!"  
  
A loud 'Oooooh' was emitted. Harry looked and gasped. The castle looked marvelous. It was perched atop a large hill, its yellow lights glistening. Many turrets and towers were connected to it.  
  
They exited the boats and began to follow someone into the castle...  
  
Wow, it didn't take me very long to update this time. Don't expect it to be like this for the next update, I've got several trips coming up in the next few weeks. If I don't update by this Monday, then I probably won't update until the end of June, so you'll just have to wait.  
  
A million thanks to Kristal for fixing the problem. Thanks to all of you who didn't complain or anything while the chapter was down. 


	5. Chapter 4: The Sorting of the Students

Blah, Summer Vacation already...wait, what am I saying? YAY!! Sorry it took so long to update, _Phil_, but I did have graduation, plus packing for the trip, plus an end of the school year/burning all school papers party, so don't complain!  
  
Chapter Four- The Sorting of the Students  
  
The person they had been following halted them at the base of a large staircase. From the doors that they had entered from, Harry noticed that there were four, what looked like, hourglasses standing on either side of the doors. Each was mounted with a different animal and had a different colored gem inside. At the bottom, three numbers (all of which were currently zero) were labeled.  
  
"Attention, please," the Witch said. "Quiet, quiet...QUIET PLEASE!!!" Each student stopped talking to stare at the woman. "That's better. Now, in a few moments, you will be entering the Great Hall to be sorted into your House. The Houses are; Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Gryffindor. During your stay here at Hogwarts, your House will be like your family; your triumphs will earn your house points; any rule-breaking will lose your house points. At the end of this year, whichever house has the most points wins the House Cup." She paused, took a breath, then continued. "Please wait here one moment as we try to get the ceremony ready." She turned around and quickly opened the doors and closed them behind her.  
  
Harry relaxed for a moment, then a slick voice caused anger to boil up inside of him. "It's true then, what they're saying on the train...Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts." Harry did not move, although Ron turned to look at Harry.  
  
"I'm surprised you even made it here, Malfoy" Harry replied with a smirk on his face. "I can't believe that 'your father wanted to bring you here himself because he doesn't trust the Hogwarts Train'."  
  
"How—What," stuttered MALFOY. "Crabbe! Goyl—"his words were cut off by a boy known as Neville crying, "TREVOR!" and leaping forward to catch the toad. Harry stepped to his right quickly as Neville grabbed Trevor the Toad, who was in front of Harry's left foot.  
  
"Nice," Ron muttered to Harry.  
  
"What part?" Harry muttered back, smirking. "Me getting out of the way of Neville, or me replying to Malfoy's comment?"  
  
"Both," Ron replied, grinning.  
  
The Witch came back, glaring at Neville who was still lying on the ground, Trevor clasped in his hands. "The ceremony will begin now," she said, leading them into the Great Hall.  
  
As the students quietly filed into the Great Hall, there was a sudden gasp at the decorations. Thousands of candles floated in the air, each of them illuminating the ceiling, which showed the night sky. From somewhere behind him, Harry heard someone say, "The ceiling is bewitched to look like the night sky. I read it in _Hogwarts: A History_."  
  
Four long tables filled the main floor of the hallway, each lined with witches and wizards of all ages clad in black cloaks and the ceremonial hats. Lining the front of the Hall was one long table where all of the teachers sat at, murmuring amongst one another. In front of the table was a three-legged stool with an ancient pointed hat sitting atop it.  
  
The witch they had been following began to talk as she unrolled a scroll.  
  
"Now, when I call your name, you come up, sit down on the stool and put the hat on your head," she looked at the paled first-years as she called out, "Abbott, Hannah." The list went on and on, until Harry began to realize some of the names being called.  
  
"Granger, Hermione!" The girl who had been looking for Neville's toad walked up to the hat. "GRYFFINDOR!" The hat cried out. Hermione gladly walked to the table of cheering witches and wizards.  
  
"Hanale, Jeanna!" Harry froze. Could it really be her? He stood on his toes to get a good look at the girl. When she sat down, Harry realized that the girl with brown eyes and strawberry blond hair was the Jeanna that he knew.  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
"Malfoy, Draco!" Ron suppressed a laugh at his name.  
  
Without having to put the hat on his head, it cried out, "SLYTHERIN!"  
  
"Potter, Harry!" The crowd that was chattering stopped abruptly as he slowly walked up to the hat. Sitting down, the witch placed the hat on his head. A voice in his ear began to talk to him as the hundreds of students watched him eagerly.  
  
"Hmm...difficult, yes, very difficult...now, where to put you?" the hat said to Harry. "I see plenty of courage, hmm...but I see thirst for power...But, where?"  
  
"_Not Slytherin, please, not Slytherin_!" Harry begged the hat.  
  
"Not Slytherin, eh?" the hat replied. "Very well...better be GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor table erupted in applause as Harry seated himself next to Fred and George.  
  
Someone moved from where they were seated to right next to Harry, who didn't notice their arrival. They finally whispered to Harry, "Wow. I never imagined seeing someone like you here, ickle 'Arry!" Harry turned to look at who it was.  
  
"I never thought I'd see you here, ickle Jeanna," Harry replied, smiling her the girl. "And you were Muggle-born, right?" she nodded. "I can't believe that I'd see my neighbor here at Hogwarts!"  
  
"Really," Jeanna replied, ending the conversation as the witch called, "Weasley, Ronald!"  
  
Harry could tell that Ron was nervous; his skin was pure white and his ears were tinged with red. "GRYFFINDOR!!" Ron ran over to sit across from Harry as the color in his face came back.  
  
"Glad that's over, eh?" Ron said, his voice shaky.  
  
"Really, Ronny," Fred said.  
  
"Why were you—"George said.  
  
"So—"  
  
"Nervous?"  
  
"It's not that—"  
  
"Big of an—"  
  
"Event!" chorused the twins.  
  
"Sod off!" Ron replied, his ears turning red once more.  
  
Finally, the final name was called. ("Zelinsky, Jessica!" "Slytherin!") As she took her seat at the Slytherin table, Professor Dumbledore stood up.  
  
"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!" he cried to the students. "Before we dine on our excellent feast, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"  
  
The dazzling plates in front of Harry and his schoolmates filled up with food. To Harry's delight, they had every kind of food he could think of. If _only my stupid cousin Dudley could see me now! Ha!_ Harry smirked and looked at Ron. Ron, however, was too busy stuffing his face to notice that Harry was trying to ask him something. All of a sudden, his scar began to hurt. Although the pain was excruciating, he didn't move. Jeanna then prodded him in the side.  
  
"Why aren't you eating, Harry?" she asked, the food on her plate forming a small volcano. "Is something wrong?"  
  
"No," he replied quickly. "Nothing at all." He began to pile food onto his plate.  
  
Feeling much better after eating, Harry began to chat amongst Ron and Jeanna. As soon as he began to tell them about his scar hurting, Dumbledore stood up once more, his blue eyes twinkling. He held up his hands to silence them, as he began to speak.  
  
"Now that we are all fed and well-nourished," he began. "I have a few announcements. First of all, I would like to point out to the First Years that the Forbidden Forest is off-limits to _everyone_, I don't think you would want to go in there anyway.  
  
"Second, the list of items that are banned from the school hallways has lengthened over the summer. I believe there are almost three-hundred on the list now. For the complete list, you may go to Mr. Filch's office.  
  
"Third, and most importantly, this announcement goes for everyone. The third floor corridor is off-limits to everyone. Unless you wish to die a horrible and painful death." He paused and smiled. "Now, on a lighter note, and with that said, it's off to bed for you all. Get plenty of rest! Your classes start tomorrow!"  
  
He sat down. Chatter immediately flooded the room. The rest of the night was a daze. Harry followed Percy up to the Fat Lady Portrait (Fizzing Whizby), he climbed the stairs up to his dormitory. Luckily he was with Ron. He took off his glasses and set them off the table. It had been an exciting night.  
  
His mind wandered to thoughts unheard of to mankind...  
  
Ah, don't mind my usage of that certain person, all you choirlings. I just had to put her in it!! Hopefully I can update soon enough. It's quite hard to find time to get on the computer here at my house! 


	6. Chapter 5: Classes

**Chapter Five- Classes  
**  
Harry awoke the next day, excitement rushing through him. His first day of classes. He looked around the dormitory he shared. Everyone else was already up and had left the room, except for Ron.  
  
"Could you go any slower?" Ron asked Harry as Harry slowly pulled on his robes. Harry glared at Ron but sped up and within a few minutes were heading out of the portrait. All of a sudden, Harry's robes were caught.  
  
"Aurgh! My robes are caught on something!" Harry said.  
  
"When will you _learn_?" The girl said to Harry, letting go of his robes. "That trick still does work."  
  
"And who are you?" Ron asked, furious that he was late for breakfast.  
  
"She's my neighbor, Jeanna Hanale," Harry replied. "Jeanna, this is Ron Weasley."  
  
"Hi," Ron said.  
  
"Hello!" Jeanna replied, smiling. Her brown eyes were alert and bright. "Well then, shall we head down to the Great Hall for breakfast?"  
  
"I thought no one would ever ask!!" Ron exclaimed, practically bouncing out of the portrait hole. Harry and Jeanna followed. Now that Ron wasn't by them, listening to their conversation, Harry asked Jeanna a question.  
  
"So, how'd your parents take the note?" Harry asked.  
  
"I don't know, really," she replied. "They had mixed emotions. First, they were quite happy, er, at least my mom was. She thought it was great. But my dad," she sighed. "My dad thought I shouldn't go at all. He wouldn't let me leave the house at all. He treated me like I was abnormal or something. My mom bought all of my things one night when he was away. She hid them underneath some loose floorboards in my closet. Somehow my mom convinced my dad to take me to King's Crossing Station. He wasn't happy about it, but he seemed to lighten up once he saw how many people were wizards and witches. I don't know if his attitude towards our kind changed at all, or if he just—"She was cut off by someone behind them butting in.  
  
"Excuse me," the girl said, pushing her way in between Harry and Jeanna. "But I couldn't help overhearing your conversation." Harry realized that the girl was Hermione Granger from the train. "You're Muggle-born too?" Jeanna nodded. "So'm I. Although, my parents took it quite well. They were proud of me." Hermione turned to look at Jeanna's reaction, but Jeanna turned away quickly. Harry looked puzzled. What was up with Jeanna?  
  
"Anyway, if you're headed to the Great Hall," Hermione continued, "you're going the wrong way. You should have turned down that hall right there." Hermione pointed to the hallway about ten yards behind them.  
  
"Thanks," Harry said, pushing himself and Jeanna forward, away from Hermione. Harry was too occupied to notice the dozens of students walking past Harry whispering things such as, "Did you see his scar?" "It's that kid, right there!" _"It's Harry Potter!"_ Even if he had noticed them, it wouldn't have bugged him, he was too used to it all by now. He didn't even realize that Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris was tailing him. She gave up and turned to go back to the third floor.  
  
Harry and Jeanna finally reached the Great Hall, neither of them spoke of their conversation. Harry looked at all of the students clad in black. He felt like he was in a fairytale, what with all of the ghosts floating about and, of course, the witches and wizards. Harry and Jeanna sat opposite each other, Harry right next to Ron. He noticed that Ron didn't notice he had sat down, he was too busy eating.  
  
Harry, still full from the feast last night, only ate a bit of toast. He was nervous about getting his class schedules. His mind was pulled elsewhere when a sudden pain shot through his scar. He looked up at the Teachers' table and noticed that one of them was staring at him with a look of loathing. The teacher had greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin. _Hmm...that must be Professor Snape. Dad's always talking about how much he hates him._ Next to Snape, Professor Quirrell was turned around backwards for some reason, his turban was the only thing visible. The pain subsided as quickly as it came.  
  
Coming along the Gryffindor table was Professor McGonagall handing out the schedule of classes to all of the students. She handed Harry's his and he read:  
  
__

_Monday: 9:00 am- History of Magic, Professor Binns (Ravenclaw)  
10:30 am- Herbology, Greenhouse One, Professor Sprout (Hufflepuff)  
12:00 pm- Lunch  
1:00 pm- Charms, Professor Flitwick  
2:30 pm- Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall_

_Tuesday: 9:00 am- Charms, Professor Flitwick  
10:30 am- Break  
12:00 pm- Lunch  
1:00 pm- Care of Magical Creatures, Professor Kettleburn  
2:30 pm- Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Quirrell_

_Wednesday: 9:00 am- Herbology, Greenhouse One, Professor Sprout (Hufflepuff)  
10:30 am- Care of Magical Creatures, Professor Kettleburn  
12:00 pm- Lunch  
1:00 pm- Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall 12:00 am- Astronomy, Northernmost Tower, Professor Sinistra_

_Thursday: 9:00 am- Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Quirrell  
10:30 am- Charms, Professor Flitwick  
12:00 pm- Lunch  
1:00 pm- History of Magic, Professor Binns (Ravenclaw)_

_Friday: 9:00 am- Double Potions, Dungeon One, Professor Snape (Slytherins)_

_11:30 am- Herbology, Greenhouse One, Professor Sprout (Hufflepuff)_

_1:00 pm- Lunch_

"Good, we have the same schedule!" Ron said.  
  
"Duh, Ronnikins!" Fred said. "Each year has the same schedules!"  
  
"Until third year, then you get to pick your classes, and some of you will have Ancient Runes at the same time as Divination," Percy piped in.  
  
Harry, Ron, Jeanna, Fred, and George shot Percy and evil glare. He didn't seem to notice, he continued to study his schedule.  
  
"Uh oh," Jeanna said. "We're going to be late for History of Magic!!" She grabbed Ron and Harry by their robes.  
  
"You _really_ _want to be_ late for Binns' classes. It's a snore," George said.  
  
"Still,_ I_ don't want to be late for _my_ first class!" Jeanna snapped, still dragging Harry and Ron away from the food. "Come _on!!"_ She pulled so hard on Ron's robes that it choked him. Harry pulled out of Jeanna's grip and was standing next to her, waiting for Ron.  
  
"O—ok! I'm—coming!!" He said through coughs. Harry followed them. He noticed that most of the Great Hall was empty. Had classes already started?  
  
"Jeanna?" Harry began.  
  
"Not...now...Harry!!" Jeanna said, still pulling Ron along. He was putting up a good fight, but Jeanna had a firm grip on him. "Ron!! Will you just...STAND UP?!"  
  
"Let......go of......my...robes!!!" he replied, still gasping for breath. Jeanna let go as Ron fell to the floor, massaging his throat. Harry looked at his watch and gasped.  
  
"Get up Ron!! We're late!" Jeanna's eyes widened.  
  
"I told you he would be the cause for us being late!!" Jeanna exclaimed, pointing at Ron.  
  
After about five minutes of running, they reached the room. Opening the door quietly, they filed in, taking seats in the back of the room. Professor Binns, who was droning on about Emeric the Evil and Uric the Oddball. Harry scribbled down the notes while Ron continually muttered under his breath about almost being choked to death by Jeanna, who continued to kick Ron underneath the desk anytime she caught something he said about her.  
  
"Children," muttered Harry. He received a sharp kick in the leg by Jeanna who innocently smiled at Harry. When the bell rang, they sighed in relief. Out in the hall...  
  
"That was torture!" Ron exclaimed.  
  
"What was he even talking about? Uric the What and Who the Evil?" Jeanna said. "What's our next class?"  
  
Harry pulled out his schedule. "Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. It's in Greenhouse One." Turning right down a corridor, they followed the rest of the Gryffindors outside to the Greenhouses where Professor Sprout was waiting for them.  
  
"This way, this way!!" She cried, motioning them to the very first greenhouse on the left.  
  
Harry realized that Herbology was one of his easiest classes. They learned about different kinds of fungi and how to care for mystical and magical plants. Once the class was over, Ron said, "Ah, lunch next!!"  
  
"Huh-zah," Jeanna said lazily. They were walking across the grass when a familiar voice came from behind them.  
  
"I hope you know that you were late for History of Magic!" It was Hermione.  
  
"Yes, and we feel so terrible about it, we feel we should get extra homework!!" Ron said sarcastically. He laughed as Hermione shot him a scowl not unlike Percy's.  
  
"Come on Ron," Jeanna said. "You could stop acting like a prat for once and try to be nice to other people." She turned to Hermione. "Sorry, but Ron usually acts like a moron, but usually not this bad." She then added (as though she were his sister), "It's too bad you had to see him on an off- day." Harry and Jeanna laughed, and Hermione chuckled. Ron kicked Jeanna hard, which made her howl in pain.  
  
"Ow!" Jeanna said, hopping on one foot and rubbing her leg. She stopped and pulled out her wand. Ron stopped laughing. "Don't make me curse you!"  
  
"Oh yeah?" Ron said challengingly. "We haven't learned any yet!!"  
  
Jeanna smiled evilly. "Rictusempra!" Jeanna cried. Ron went into a fit of giggles. She smiled triumphantly.  
  
"Jeanna!!" Hermione cried. "You aren't supposed to do magic on other students!" She muttered a counter curse that made Ron stop laughing and made him collapse falling to the ground, clutching his sides. He finally could stand up and they headed to the Great Hall to eat.  
  
Charms was another easy class. Since Harry was a child, he had been reading how to do many charms so he was easily more advanced than the other students (excluding Hermione).  
  
However, Transfiguration was one of the harder classes. Although McGonagall was Gryffindor's Head of House, she did not favor her own students above the rest. In fact, she favored them less and was much more strict on them than any other House. The class was exciting after she turned her desk into a pig and changed it back. But their hopes were soon doused by her scolding them and telling them that it would take them years of Transfiguration classes to be able to do that.  
  
Finally, with much relief, the day ended. They hadn't been given any homework yet, but they still had four more days of classes to go through.  
  
The class that they all were waiting for was Defense Against the Dark Arts. They were all waiting to learn jinxes and curses. However, it was very disappointing when they actually went to class. It smelled heavily of garlic (supposedly to ward off a vampire that was hunting Professor Quirrell), and anytime they asked him about any fighting he had done, he would turn pink and change the subject quickly.  
  
Finally, Ron, Harry, and Jeanna made it to the Great Hall on Friday without getting lost. Their spirits were raised a bit by this wonderful accomplishment, until Jeanna reminded them that they had Double Potions with the Slytherins.  
  
"And he favors them," Ron added. "Which means that he's—"  
  
"Biased against any other student that isn't in his House." Harry finished, standing up. "And if we don't want to be on his bad side any more than we are, we better hurry and get a seat in the back, or at least hope not to be late."  
  
"Aww, but Harry! We haven't even stayed for Owl Post yet!" Jeanna said.  
  
Owl Post... Harry thought. Then it struck him. "Jeanna, or Ron, remind me to send a letter to my parents when classes are done!! I completely forgot to send them one when I arrived!" As soon as Harry had said this, Hedwig swooped down and dropped an envelope right next to his orange juice. Hedwig landed on top of Harry's porridge and hooted for some food. Harry sat back down and gave Hedwig some toast. She nipped his hand affectionately and ate the toast greedily. He opened the letter. A piece of parchment fell out. Scribbled on it was a message:  
  
**Dear Harry,  
I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? I want to hear all about your first week at school. Send us an answer back with Hedwig. Hagrid  
**  
Harry borrowed Ron's quill and quickly scribbled _Yes, please, see you later_ on the back of the parchment and sent Hedwig off again. "Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to Potions to get a seat in the back of the class." And he strode off with Jeanna and Ron at his heels...  
  
I'll continue with Potions class in the next chapter...  
  
And I decided to go back and redo the prologue of my fanfic. I realized that the Prologue leaves some unanswered questions. My muse has been going crazy and jumping out of any window it can find. It's hard to get a good idea when I don't have a muse. In the next three weeks I should be able to get a few chapters published because I won't be bugged by my neighbor, Dave. He's going to Disney World for a few weeks. HA!! I WAS JUST THERE!!!  
  
Yes, Phil, that includes you to reread the prologue!! 


	7. Chapter 6: Potions and A Visit

Chapter Six: Potions and a Visit  
  
When Harry, Ron, and Jeanna arrived at the Dungeon, most of the class had already assembled. The three of them sidled their way through the remaining crowd of people to a table near the back of the room. The few remaining people that were standing hurried to a table as the bell rang and Snape strode in, his black cape billowing behind him.  
  
He started off the lesson with a roll call, but when he got to Harry's name, he stopped. Unlike Professor Flitwick (who had toppled over in his seat), Professor Snape merely stopped and glared at Harry. "Ah, yes, Harry Potter...our new _celebrity_." Most of the Slytherins stifled laughs. Harry looked over at Malfoy and his cronies Crabbe and Goyle. They were pointing and laughing the hardest. However, Snape merely continued on with roll call and then started on his first-of-term speech.  
  
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making." He spoke barely in a whisper, but yet, no one seemed to want to talk. "As there is little wand-waving here, many of you will hardy believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses......I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death—if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."  
  
Most of the students were stunned at Snape's little speech. Jeanna raised an eyebrow at Harry and Ron. Hermione was on the edge of her seat, waiting to answer a question.  
  
"Potter!" Snape hissed suddenly. "Tell me, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"  
  
Harry glanced at Ron, who looked extremely puzzled, as did Jeanna. Hermione's hand was almost reaching the roof of the dungeon. Harry smiled inwardly and replied to Snape, "If you added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood, you would get a powerful Sleeping Potion known as the Draught of Living Death." Snape looked stunned for a moment, then shook his head slightly and continued.  
  
"Correct." Harry glanced at Malfoy and his gang of Slytherins who looked as stunned as Ron and Jeanna sitting next to him. Harry smiled innocently at Snape. Harry had been reading about Potion-making since he was five. His mother only had a few books on Potions, though. James had always wanted to throw them away because they reminded him of Snape.  
  
"Let's try again, shall we? Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" Snape smiled slightly as he saw that Harry looked strained. _I have no idea!!!_ Harry shouted in his mind.  
  
"I don't know, _Professor_ Snape," Harry said. He put a hint of sarcasm in the word 'professor'. Clearly Snape hadn't caught it, but Ron and Jeanna did. They suppressed their laughs behind their hands.  
  
Snape sneered at him. "Clearly fame isn't everything," he replied. "What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"  
  
_I know this one!!_ Harry thought. "They are the same plant, and the plant also goes by the name of aconite."  
  
Snape looked on the verge to kill. "Well, why aren't you copying all of that down?!" he snapped at the class. For the rest of the hour, they split up into pairs and made them try to mix up a simple potion to cure boils. He seemed to criticize everyone but Malfoy. Then,  
  
"Longbottom! How could you melt a cauldron while making such a simple potion?" Neville whimpered as boils sprang up all over his face and hands. "Hospital Wing, Longbottom." He turned to Harry. "And you! Why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Think it would make you look better? I think not! Five points from Gryffindor!"  
  
When class ended, Harry was relieved. "Torture once again!" Ron cried as they were out of earshot. "Please tell me it's lunch next!"  
  
"Nope," Jeanna said. "Herbology." Ron groaned.  
  
All throughout Herbology, Harry dwelled on the incidents that had happened in Potions. Why did Snape hate him so much? Was it something he did, or was it the way Harry looked. Or maybe, he had nothing to do with it at all, and it had to do with someone else.  
  
These thoughts were pushed out of Harry's mind as Ron hit him on the head with a shovel and cried, "Oy! Lunch!"  
  
Jeanna smacked Ron. He muttered something and Jeanna replied, "Because you were acting like a big git, Ronald." He muttered something else that offended Jeanna and she replied, whipping out her wand, "Do you need me to hex you again so you get the point?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Good." She turned and smiled innocently at Harry, her brown eyes alight with excitement. "Shall we go and eat, (**Ron:** Ye—) _Harry?"_  
  
Harry laughed as he nodded his head and exited the Greenhouse. Ron and Jeanna glared at each other, then laughed as they realized how childish they were being. They ran out after Harry.  
  
They ate their food quickly and headed up to Gryffindor tower to do their Potions homework (An essay: "Explain the importance of the Draught of Living Death and why it is called so"). Every so often, Harry could hear Ron mutter under his breath, _"One roll of parchment!!"_  
  
Finally, after a few hours of only writing a few lines, Harry looked at his watch. "We should probably head down to Hagrid's now."  
  
Ron put down his quill right away and said, "This is the stupidest essay I've ever had to write!! This stupid potion pretty much puts you to sleep for the rest of your life!!" His ears were literally pouring out steam.  
  
"I know. Why would you want to drink it?" Jeanna threw down her quill in disgust. Like Harry, she had only written a few lines.  
  
A voice from behind them told them that Hermione was muttering to herself. Jeanna stifled a gasp. "She's already written two rolls of parchment!" Ron began muttering things under his breath that Harry couldn't catch. Finally, after much tugging on Ron's robes, Jeanna and Harry had managed to pull Ron out of the Common Room before Hermione had noticed him gawking at her. Harry could hear Jeanna muttering under her breath to Ron, "Get moving or I'll hex you like I did before...I said _move!!!"_ Harry wished he could have had silence at that point because his scar began to tingle. Once they were outside of the Fat Lady's Portrait, Jeanna and Ron began feuding.  
  
"She might get the wrong idea, Ron," Jeanna snapped. Her mood changed abruptly as she added, "Or maybe you _like_ her!"  
  
"Sod off!" Ron fumed, his ears turning red.  
  
"But you know that I'm probably righ—"  
  
"I SAID SOD OFF!"  
  
"Fine," grumbled Jeanna. She stopped talking the rest of the trip.  
  
Harry shook his head as he and his two companions made their way out of the castle and onto the green grounds. They quickly made their way towards Hagrid's hut which was located almost on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.  
  
Cautiously, they edged their way up to the hut and made it to the door when they heard loud barks from inside. Ron paled a bit and Jeanna shoved Harry forward to knock on the door. As he knocked on the door, he could hear Hagrid's gruff voice talking sternly to something.  
  
"Back Fang...no yeh don' there...back!" Finally, after many lengthened moments, Hagrid opened the door. "'Arry!" he cried, "come in!" He looked at Jeanna and Ron. "I see yeh brough' some o' yer friends." He smiled at Jeanna and Ron and motioned them inside.  
  
To Harry, the size of the room they entered wasn't much bigger than the shed his family had. All around the walls there were many pictures hanging up, most of them from Newspapers (almost all of them were about Dumbledore). On the far wall, there was a small counter and a few cabinets. On the far left there was a fireplace that had a steaming teapot hanging over it. In the center of the room was a table which had a few mugs sitting on top of it. What turned out to be Fang was a boarhound dog. He was sitting on a rug in front of the fireplace.  
  
As the four of them sat down, Harry introduced his two friends, who still were looking around the hut, a bit nervous. "Hagrid, these are my two new friends: Ron Weasley and Jeanna Hanale."  
  
"Another Weasley, eh?" Hagrid said. "Took me 'alf o' me life chasin' yer two brothers away from the Forest." He turned towards Jeanna, who had Fang slobbering on her lap. "You don' have any older brothers or sisters do yeh?"  
  
Jeanna looked up, eyes alight. "No, sir," she replied. "I'm Muggle-born. Although I do have a younger sister."  
  
"Ah," Hagrid rumbled. "Tha' would explain why I've never heard of yeh before." He paused, then added, "Also becaus' yer a firs' year." Harry, Jeanna, and Ron all smiled.  
  
After many minutes of talking, Hagrid got up to pour them some tea. It was scalding hot, so they pretended to sip it until it cooled down. He also offered them rock cakes that had raisins in them that broke your teeth. Again, they pretended to like them. That's when Harry noticed a recent newspaper clipping.  
  
**Gringotts Break-In Latest**  
  
_Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely  
believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown.  
Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault  
that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day. "But we're not telling you what was in there, so go keep your noses out if  
you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this  
afternoon._  
  
Harry pondered this until his mind found something...something very useful......  
  
_"We would like to go to The Potters' vault," James said to the goblin at the front desk. He set down the key and added, "And we would also like to visit Vault 713 on special Hogwarts visit." Harry stored this bit of information in the back of his mind.  
  
After visiting their vault, the goblin who was driving drove Harry, Brooke, and James to Vault 713. Upon arriving there, the goblin traced an invisible line down the front of the door. Harry could see that mechanical devices were churning inside the door.  
  
As it opened, Harry peered inside as James strode in. It was a very large vault. Sitting in the middle of the vast space was a tiny package, hardly bigger than Harry's fist. James quickly grabbed it and stowed it in his pocket. As the goblin drove them away, James whispered to Brooke and Harry, "Remember, don't mention this to anyone at all." The both nodded......  
  
As they arrived home, Harry remembered James and Lily tying that very same package to the family owl, Moon, and telling it to go straight to Dumbledore's office...  
_  
"'Arry?" Hagrid asked, looking a bit worried. Harry shook his head a bit and glanced at Ron and Jeanna, who also looked worried. He looked at Hagrid as he continued. "How was yer firs' week at Hogwarts?"  
  
"It was good," Harry responded, "but I think the Potions teacher hates me. What's his name? Professor Snape?"  
  
"Yeh," Hagrid replied, "But he don' hate you! He does favor 'is own studen's over ev'ryone else, though..." he chuckled. "But hate yeh? Tha's not possible!" Ron and Jeanna exchanged looks and knew that Snape did indeed hate Harry.  
  
Abruptly changing the subject, Harry asked, "Hagrid, do you know anything about this vault break-in?"  
  
Hagrid's expression became stern. "No, I don'," he said very unconvincingly. "An' don' go tryin' to figure it out, yeh three."  
  
As they walked back to the castle, their pockets weighed down with Rock Cakes, Harry realized that his visit to Hagrid's was more mind-boggling than any of his classes so far. He just hoped that the break-in didn't mean what he thought it meant......  
  
Oooooo! Aren't I evil? I leave you all at a cliff-hanger!!!  
  
**Author's Note:** Yes, they do have a shed. It's so the Muggles don't suspect anything. It makes it all balanced and stuff.  
  
Like Kristal always says: May you always have a clean pair of pants. (11:44 pm on Tuesday, June 29, 2004.)  
  
And Happy Birthday (July 4) to Gackt, the awesome j-rock singer. (in a j- rock fans point of view, I am not a j-rocker, I just like Moonchild.)


	8. Chapter 7: The Midnight Duel and some Ma...

Yes, I am updating (finally). (from Kristal: This is chapter seven OBEY THE CHAPTER.)  
  
Actually there is a Care of Magical Creatures, they mention it very discreetly. And, no SPAMming in my reviews coughtalking about Gackt cough  
  
Chapter Seven: The Midnight Duel and Some Major Butt-Kicking Action  
  
If Harry thought that the first week of school was hard, he had another thing coming. Each night after dinner, he, Ron, and Jeanna would collapse into chairs and drag them into a corner to work on their massive mounds of homework. If you were to look around the Common Room in Gryffindor Tower, you would see many First Years huddled around tables; hidden behind massive piles of papers and open books stacked on top of each other; scribbling on rolls of parchment and comparing answers. By the end of the third week, the only one that seemed to have adjusted to the mounds of homework was Hermione. While most of the First Years worked until midnight or later, she was the first to leave the Common Room to head to bed. At the end of classes, you would see her pulling out a small planner and scribbling some notes down.  
  
"It's probably some type of schedule of some sort," Ron interjected one day.  
  
"Yeah, Ron" Jeanna replied sarcastically, as though everyone already knew what Hermione was writing down, "It's probably a schedule of when to do her homework."  
  
Ron's ears reddened as he turned away from the (innocently) smiling Jeanna. Most of the time when they began to argue, Harry just stayed in the background, as though he was invisible to them.  
  
On top of the piles of homework, Harry never thought he would meet someone he hated with a passion. Draco Malfoy would appear in the halls out of nowhere with his two cronies and taunt Harry. Most Slytherins within ear shot would laugh, loudly and forcedly. Most others would shove Malfoy hard for being so mean (most of these students being Gryffindors). Luckily, the Gryffindors only had Potions with the Slytherins, until McGonagall posted a notice on the notice board.  
  
"Oh great," Harry said, peering over the other dozens of heads to look at the notice board.  
  
"What?" Ron and Jeanna chorused.  
  
"Flying lessons begin on Thursday," Harry paused. Ron and Jeanna looked at him weirdly. He added, "With the Slytherins."  
  
Ron groaned. He muttered something that made Jeanna ram him in the side with her elbow. Harry smirked inwardly. Malfoy continuously would talk about how talented he was on a broomstick. He'd show Malfoy up. Little did Malfoy know that Harry was extremely good at Quidditch and at flying.  
  
But that was Monday when the notice was put up. Because everyone wanted to fly so much, the week dragged on with agonizing slowness, for what felt like months. The days seemed to lengthen with every glance at a clock. On top of the days going by slowly, the amount of homework slowly began to increase with each lesson. Finally, after a day of boring Defense lessons, interactive Charms lessons, and a droning History of Magic lesson, the time came.  
  
Entering the Common Room, Harry noticed that most of the First Years were rapturous about the Flying Lessons. He also noticed four chairs drawn together in a corner. A girl with bushy brown hair waved for Harry to come and sit. As he threw his bag down on the floor, Jeanna said, "So...like the new addition?"  
  
Harry looked up and gave Jeanna and Ron a quizzical look. Ron motioned Harry to look behind him. Harry turned his head and realized that it wasn't Jeanna who had waved at him, but Hermione. "Hi Harry!" She said brightly. A roll of parchment was spread over half of a Transfigurations book, while the book was balanced perfectly on her lay. A quill was clenched in her hand, an ink bottle was positioned on the arm of the chair. As Harry said 'Hi' back to Hermione, she jumped up, sprawling her books and parchment on the floor. "I need to go get the book I checked out of the library!" And she ran up to her dormitory.  
  
"So, why is she in this..." Harry couldn't find the right wording.  
  
"Gang?" Jeanna suggested.  
  
"Good enough," Harry replied. "So, why is she?"  
  
"I really don't know," Jeanna said, eyeing Ron with a mischievous grin. "Maybe you can ask Ronald over there."  
  
Harry looked at Ron, who's ears had turned red. "Well, I had three chairs pulled over in this corner, you see? And I, er, was working on my uh...Transfigurations homework...essay...and I kept on crossing things out and um...she just kinda came over with her books and asked if I needed help, so I said yes and she kinda just stayed here even after Jeanna and you came." Ron's face was tinged with a maroon color.  
  
"Ah," Harry said, catching Jeanna's eye. "So you took advantage of her intelligence, eh?"  
  
"No!" Ron said right away, his ears turning back to normal. They quickly changed back to red when he added, "Yeah... I guess."  
  
Harry and Jeanna laughed as Ron joined in. After a few moments they heard a quite familiar voice. "What's so funny?" Hermione had returned with a large book (_Matches To Needles: A guide to Simple Transfigurations by Glenda Greenway_) in her arms.  
  
Wiping away tears from his face, Ron answered, "Oh, nothing, just a joke Harry told us."  
  
"Really?" Hermione said, looking intrigued. She sat down in her chair and began to flip through the book. "Let's hear it!"  
  
"Er...alright," Harry said. As Hermione scribbled something down, Harry glared at Ron and mouthed, Why did you have to say my name?! Ron mouthed back, First name that came to my mind. Jeanna looked at both of them, her face brightening.  
  
"Ron, you have a terrible memory," Jeanna said, "I told the joke." Hermione set down her quill. "It might not be as funny, telling it a second time, and it's an American joke."  
  
"Well, I want to hear it anyway," Hermione said. "If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane." Ron looked mystified. Harry and Jeanna both said, "Changes in Latitude by Jimmy Buffet." "American song," Harry attached on the end.  
  
"Well here it goes," Jeanna cleared her throat. "A barber goes into work and cuts a Florist's hair. When he's done, the florist tries to pay the barber but he replies, 'No, I'm doing this for community service.' So the barber goes home and comes back to work the next day and finds a dozen flowers with a card attached that says 'Thank You'. The barber cuts a police officer's hair. When he's done, the officer tries to pay the barber but he replies, 'No, I'm doing this for community service.' So the barber goes home and comes back to work the next day and finds a dozen donuts with a card attached that says 'Thank You'. The barber cuts a Democrats hair. When he's done, the Democrat tries to pay the barber but he replies, 'No, I'm doing this for community service.' So the barber goes home and comes back to work the next day and finds a dozen Democrats waiting for a free haircut." Jeanna looked around at the three wizards. After a few moments of silence, all four of them broke out into laughter.  
  
"That was pretty good," Hermione said. "But now we probably should head down for Flying Lessons." They all hurriedly shuffled out of the Common Room (Ron quietly whispered to Jeanna, "Actually, that sucked." Jeanna grinned and replied, "Yeah, I know, but pretty good for trying to figure out a joke off the top of my head!") and followed the other First Years out to the field.  
  
Walking down to the field, they overhead Neville talking about something. Harry noticed that he was grasping something firmly. "Whatcha got there, Neville?" he asked him.  
  
"Oh, hi Harry!" Neville said. "My gran sent me a Remembrall. It tells you if you've forgotten something if it turns red—"And, indeed, the Remembrall turned a scarlet red. Neville stopped talking to try and figure out what he had forgotten.  
  
They finally reached the field and the four of them assembled in a line standing next to each other. Malfoy and his group of Slytherins were standing across from them. Malfoy looked positively gleeful. His cold, grey eyes stared at Harry as Malfoy smiled his evil smile. Harry just looked at him and waved, a smile on his face. He couldn't wait until they could start flying.  
  
A moment later, Madam Hooch walked out onto the field, her yellow eyes darting from one student to another, her short, grey hair spiked up.  
  
"Good afternoon, class!" Madam Hooch said. "Now, let's begin, shall we?" Most of the students grinned and waited to hear the instructions. "Stick out your right hand over your broom and say, 'Up!'"  
  
"UP!" All of the students chorused. Harry's broom came up right away. Ron as having a difficult time, as was Hermione. Jeanna, after trying several times, finally managed to get hers to fly up to her hand. Ron's broom came up and hit him in the face, and Hermione's just rolled around, until she screamed 'UP!!' Then it flew up to her hand. Harry glanced at Malfoy, who had his hand firmly grasping the broom.  
  
Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end. To Harry, this was completely pointless. He knew all of these facts already and he mounted his broom fairly quickly. Ron had also mounted his perfectly. They both watched as Madam Hooch, like a hawk, watched the students mount their brooms and told them their gripping was wrong, or that they were sitting on the broom backwards (which was only Neville). They were delighted when she told Malfoy that his gripping had been wrong for years. But Malfoy looked utterly disgusted.  
  
"Now, when I blow my whistle," Madam Hooch called to the students. "You kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle, three...two...--"  
  
But Neville had been nervous and pushed off of the ground rather hard and began to rise higher and higher. Madam Hooch frantically called after him to lean forward, but it was no use. Harry could see Neville's face was as pale as ever and his eyes were completely shut. All of a sudden, he slipped sideways off of the broom as he fell twenty feet to the ground, and landed on his stomach.  
  
Madam Hooch ran over to him, rolling him over onto his back. Neville whimpered in pain, clutching his wrist. "Oh dear," Madam Hooch muttered. "Broken wrist! Come on, boy, get up!" She turned to glare at the rest of the class with her yellow eyes. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave these brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'. Come on dear." She slowly made her way back to the castle. Most students groaned in protest of not being able to fly on a broomstick, but Harry had other things on his mind. His emerald eyes were cold and glaring at something a few meters away.  
  
It was Malfoy, who had picked up something off of the ground where Neville had fallen. He was laughing at something he had said as were some other Slytherins. Probably about Neville! Harry thought angrily.  
  
"Look!" Malfoy said, tossing the Remembrall up in the air and catching it. "It's the thing that Longbottom's gran sent him!" Harry, Ron, Jeanna, and Hermione all glared at Malfoy, who paid no heed to the four of them. Harry stepped forward menacingly.  
  
"Give it here, Malfoy," Harry said icily, his words edged in venom.  
  
"No," Malfoy said angrily, his grey eyes glaring at Harry. "I think I'll put it somewhere where Longbottom can find it! How about in a tree?" He hopped onto the broom and began flying upwards. Harry grabbed the broom nearest to him and was about to fly off after Malfoy, when two pairs of hands grabbed his shoulders and spun him around.  
  
"Harry!" Jeanna cried.  
  
"NO!" Hermione finished. "You heard what Madam Hooch said!" Harry looked at Ron, who was giving him the thumbs up sign and mouthing 'Go get him!' Harry pulled out of Jeanna and Hermione's grips and flew off after Malfoy, who looked terrified that Harry could fly!  
  
"Give it here," Harry called, facing Malfoy about thirty feet up in the air. "Or I'll knock you off your broom!"  
  
"Oh, yeah?" Malfoy sneered, but he looked worried. He took off towards the castle, with Harry on his tail. Harry called to Malfoy, "No Crabbe and Goyle to save your neck up here!"  
  
"Fine then!" Malfoy said, stopping his broom. "Then catch it!" He threw the Remembrall up in the air and watched as Harry pulled into a spectacular dive, plummeting down to the ground, gaining on the small object. He could hear a few girls screaming for him to stop, but he just ignored them. He knew what he was doing.  
  
Right as he was about to hit the ground, he caught the Remembrall and pulled out of his dive, his toes gliding over the grass. He stopped the broom as all of the Gryffindors cheered.  
  
As soon as he had stepped foot on the ground, the Remembrall clutched in his hand, he heard a familiar voice and his stomach plummeted.  
  
"HARRY POTTER!!"  
  
Professor McGonagall was running over to him, her glasses askew. "Never—in all my time—such foolishness!—could have broken your neck!"  
  
"But it wasn't my fault Pro—"But she silenced Harry, and beckoned for him to follow her. He sadly handed the Remembrall to Ron and said, "Give this to Neville." He walked behind Professor McGonagall, feeling like he was being sent out to the Gallows.  
  
Harry was so distraught that he didn't notice where McGonagall was leading him until she stopped him and she entered Professor Flitwick's room.  
  
"Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?" Harry had no idea what Wood might be, but he didn't want to find out. But Wood turned out to be a Fifth-Year student, who looked as confused as Harry felt. They both followed McGonagall into an empty classroom.  
  
"Shoo Peeves!" McGonagall barked at him. He stuck out his tongue and whizzed away through the chalkboard. McGonagall turned towards Harry and Wood.  
  
"Harry, this is Oliver Wood—Wood, I've found you a Seeker!" Wood and Harry both exchanged looks of delight.  
  
"You're kidding!" Wood exclaimed.  
  
"First-years can't be on the team!" Harry exclaimed, although he wished that he didn't, he really wanted to be on the Quidditch team.  
  
"Oh, we can make an exception!" McGonagall said, smiling at Harry.  
  
"Are you serious, Professor?" Wood said, bewildered.  
  
"Absolutely," said McGonagall crisply. "He's a natural! I've never seen anything like him!" She turned to Harry. "And I suppose that wasn't your first time on a broom, right?" Harry nodded. She turned back to Wood. "He caught a student's Remembrall after a fifty-foot dive. He didn't even scratch himself! Charley Weasley couldn't have done it.  
  
"Wood's captain of the Quidditch team," Professor McGonagall told Harry. "Well, off to classes, you two, and try not to tell anyone."  
  
After exiting the empty classroom with Oliver Wood, he asked Harry, "Ever seen a game of Quidditch before?"  
  
"Of course!!" Harry exclaimed. "I know exactly how to play. I have to look for the tiny golden ball, the Snitch, and it's worth one hundred and fifty points. When I catch it, it ends the game."  
  
Wood looked like he could've hugged Harry, but instead he said, "And you've got the right build for a Seeker, too!" Harry said goodbye to Wood and headed for the Gryffindor Tower. Before he took ten steps towards the Tower, though, he was stopped by Professor McGonagall. "Potter," she said sternly, "I want to hear you're training hard or I may change my mind about punishing you." She then smiled. "You may write to your parents and tell them. I daresay that your father will be proud of you. He's an excellent Quidditch Player himself."

* * *

"You're joking!"  
  
It was dinnertime. Harry had just finished telling Ron, Jeanna, and Hermione what had happened when he had left the field with Professor McGonagall.  
  
"Seeker?" Hermione said.  
  
"But first-years _never_ are on the Quidditch team!" Ron put in. "You must be the youngest player in about—"  
  
"A century," Harry finished, eating his pudding. "Wood told me." Ron was so impressed, he just stared at Harry.  
  
Fred and George came running up to Harry.  
  
"Well done!" George said in a quiet voice so no one could overhear. "Wood told us—we're the Beaters on the team."  
  
"I tell you, we're going to win the Quidditch Cup this year!" Fred said. "We haven't won since Charlie was Seeker, but this year's team is going to be_ brilliant_! You must be really good because Wood was practically dancing with excitement when he told us."  
  
"Anyway, we gotta go, we've got plans with Lee Jordan!" Fred said. "See you later!" And they left.  
  
As soon as Fred and George had gone, three less-welcomed people turned up; Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.  
  
"Having a last meal, Potter?" Malfoy sneered. "When are you going back to the Muggles?"  
  
"You're a lot braver now with your two little body guards protecting you," Harry said coolly.  
  
"I'd take you on anytime on my own," said Malfoy. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only—no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a Wizard's duel before?"  
  
"Of course I have!" Harry said defiantly. "Ron's my second. Who's yours?"  
  
"Crabbe," Malfoy said. "Midnight alright? We'll meet you in the trophy room; it's always unlocked."  
  
He turned to leave and Harry leaned in towards Jeanna and Hermione. "Can't you put a spell on him that'll make him show up?"  
  
Jeanna looked worried. "I do, but it's pretty advanced. Let me try it." She pulled out her wand and pointed it at Malfoy and Crabbe. "_Commonstro admodum_!" A thin jet of golden light was issued from her wand and hit Malfoy and Crabbe in the back. They didn't notice it, and they continued to walk away. "Well, let's hope it works!"  
  
"Excuse me," Hermione said to Ron and Harry. "But you mustn't go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose for Gryffindor if you're caught!! It's really very selfish of you!"  
  
"Oh come on, Hermione!" Ron said. "Lighten up!"

* * *

At half past eleven, Ron and Harry slowly made their way out of the Fat Lady Portrait and headed towards the trophy room, keeping a wary eye out for Filch or Mrs. Norris.  
  
They made it to the trophy room uneventfully and waited for Malfoy and Crabbe. When Ron and Harry heard the twelfth chime of the clock, the door swung open and revealed a stunned-looking Malfoy and Crabbe. Malfoy shook his head slightly and realized what he was doing.  
  
"What did that spell do to them?" Ron muttered.  
  
"Must've automatically made them walk here," Harry muttered back.  
  
"Ah, so you did show up," Malfoy said coldly. Crabbe shut the door quietly. "Let's begin, shall we?" He waved his wand swiftly in the air and what was in the room suddenly lined up against the walls.  
  
Harry and Malfoy both walked to the middle of the room and bowed to each other, walking backwards slightly. They both lifted their wands as Ron counted to three.  
  
"One—Two—Three!"  
  
"_Densaugeo!"_ Malfoy cried.  
  
"_Furnunculus!"_ Harry cried.  
  
Malfoy's spell was wide and missed Harry by a few feet. Harry's did the same. Malfoy ran to the wall of the room and grabbed a trophy. He then threw it at Harry, who said lazily, "_Impedimenta!"_ and the object slowed down enough for Harry to grab it out of midair and set it on the ground. Malfoy looked furious, but Harry wasn't going to stop the duel for anything.  
  
Harry then cried, "_Stupefy! Rictusempra!"_ and they hit Malfoy dead on. He fell to the ground and began laughing hysterically, but he couldn't move at all.  
  
All of a sudden, Harry heard a loud 'meow' from the doorway. It was Mrs. Norris. "Harry, let's get out of here!" Ron cried. Crabbe looked angry then realized what was going on. He picked up Malfoy and dashed out of the room extremely fast. Ron was pulling Harry into a corner.  
  
"Fred and George told me there's a secret passage in here, but I can't see anything!" Ron muttered. "Aha!" He pressed a brick which swiveled the entire wall and showed them a tunnel to crawl through. They quickly went through as the wall returned back to normal. Harry could hear Ron mutter "_Lumos!"_  
  
They continued to crawl through the tunnel until they could see a patch of light ahead. Ron stuck his head out and nodded to Harry. "The coast's clear."  
  
Quickly and quietly, they climbed out of the hole and found themselves in the Third Floor corridor, with Hermione standing in front of them.  
  
"I can't believe that you went!" Hermione said angrily. "I knew you would turn up here so I came here to tell you how much trouble you'll be in if we're caught!"  
  
"Yeah, but it was worth it!" Ron said. "Harry kicked the crap out of Malfoy."  
  
"So my spell worked?" said a voice from a shadowy corner.  
  
Jeanna appeared. "Yeah, it did!" Ron exclaimed, too loudly. Mrs. Norris came around the corner. "Run!" Jeanna said.  
  
They ran to the closest door, but it was locked. "This is it! We're done for!" Ron said, moaning.  
  
"Oh for goodness sakes!" Hermione said, pulling out her wand. _"Alohomora!"_ The door sprang open and they all piled in, slamming the door behind them. They could hear Filch looking for them, but he quickly turned around and went in the other direction.  
  
Jeanna, Ron, and Hermione sighed a sigh of relief. "Harry, he's gone. Harry?" Hermione said.  
  
"Yeah," Harry said darkly. "Filch is gone, but we've got bigger trouble." He pointed to the dog in the center of the room. But this was no ordinary dog, it had three heads and was ten times bigger than the largest German Shepard dog.  
  
All four of them screamed as the three heads began to bark at them. They quickly ran out of the room, locking the door behind them. They ran all the way until they reached the portal, where they found Neville sleeping.  
  
Ron muttered to all three of them, "Well, what the ("RON!" Hermione said.) was that thing doing there?"  
  
Just then, Neville woke up. "Oh, hi!" he said brightly. He didn't notice that they were all very pale and had frightened looks on their faces. "I forgot the password!"  
  
"It's 'fizzing whizby'," Harry said.  
  
All five of them entered and walked quietly to their dorms without saying another word...  
  
_Commonstro admodum_ - To show up  
  
_Densaugeo_ – Causes teeth to grow rapidly  
  
_Furnunculus_ – Causes Boils  
  
_Impedimenta_ – Slows down an object  
  
_Rictusempra_ – Tickling spell  
  
And don't flame me if some of these spells are too advanced for First Years, I found them all but the Commonstro admodum (which I made up) on a Harry Potter site and they didn't specify if they were advanced or not.  
  
Well, although it took me long to update, it's a long chapter!! DON'T COMPLAIN! Kristal: Yeaaah! Nice joke. Teehee.  
  
All of you Democrats, don't flame me, it's a joke I found someplace. Hey, it doesn't affect me, I'm a Republican!!!!  
  
And no, like Kristal already asked me, I am not a Ron/Hermione Shipper, Ron just didn't feel comfortable about inviting the know-it-all into their group. But I don't think Hermione is a know-it-all. 


	9. Chapter 8: Livin' In Troll Time

Phil, I told you in computers, NO! And if you read the last chapter correctly, Jeanna is NOT taking the place of Hermione!!  
  
Chapter Eight: Livin' In Troll Time  
  
Malfoy was stunned the next day to see that Harry and Ron had made it back to their Common Room without getting caught. He was so furious that he forgot to make fun of Harry and Ron. Meanwhile, the red-head and the brown- head were keen to have another adventure. But under the watchful eye of Hermione and Mrs. Norris, it seemed their chances were very slim.  
  
The morning after they had found the three-headed dog, Hermione pointed out a fact.  
  
"Didn't you notice what it was standing on?" Hermione queried.  
  
"The floor?" Jeanna suggested.  
  
"I wasn't looking at the floor! I was too busy with its heads!" Ron said. "It had three of them if you noticed!"  
  
"No, not the floor," Hermione said. "And I did notice that it had three heads. It was standing on a trapdoor! It's obviously guarding something."  
  
"Well, whatever it is, it's either really dangerous or really valuable," Harry said, thinking. Then a thought struck him. "Wait a minute!" All three of them turned to stare at Harry, who was deep in thought. "When my father, Brooke, and I went to Gringotts, we didn't visit just our vault, we visited..." His mind raced to remember the number. "Vault Seven-Hundred and Thirteen. And my dad said it was on Hogwarts business!!"  
  
Hermione clapped her hands together and smiled. "Well, we know that whatever was in that vault, someone else wants it. I remember you reading about a break-in at Gringotts in Hagrid's cabin, and when you asked him if he knew anything, he changed the subject rather quickly." She furrowed her brow. "He must know something, but there's no way we can visit him anytime soon, we've got too much homework." As soon as she had stopped talking to think some more, the owls swooped in, bringing the mail.  
  
Moon swooped down and landed on Harry's shoulder, nipping his ear affectionately. Her silver feathers sparkled in the candlelit Hall. Harry quickly untied the letter addressed to him and handed her a small piece of toast. She hooted thankfully and swooped down next to Jeanna's plate. "Oh!" she said. "She's so beautiful!" She patted Moon on the head, who hooted lazily, still eating the bit of toast. "What's it's name?" she inquired to Harry.  
  
"Moon," he replied. "And Moon's a she." He opened up the letter. It was from Lily. "Oh no, I forgot to write home!" he muttered.  
  
The letter read:  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
I know that going away to school and making new friends (and finding your way around the castle) has overwhelmed your mind, so your father and I aren't mad that you forgot to write to us. However, we do insist that you write us back, telling us all about school so far ("Should we tell them about the three-headed dog?" Ron asked, reading the letter over Harry's shoulder. "No," he replied, reading on.). I want to know all of your teachers and what friends you have. Did you know anybody who came?  
  
Your father isn't here right now, he's helping calm a situation at an ex- Aurors house. He does hope that you write back and he is really sorry that he couldn't write anything, but you know how it is working for the Ministry.  
  
Write back soon! Oh, and leave Moon in the Owlery to rest from her long flight. Your father and I are waiting for an answer!  
  
Love  
  
Mom  
  
PS- Brooke and your father say 'hi'.  
  
On the far corner of the note was a note scribbled by Brooke. It read:  
  
Harry,  
  
HI!!! Write soon! I want to hear all about Hogwarts! I can't wait until I come next year!  
  
Brooke  
  
Harry smiled at the sight of his family's writing. He folded the letter up and put it in his robe's pocket as another parcel, this one much larger than the last, landed in front of him. As Ron reached out to tear it open, Hermione grabbed his wrist. "No!" she said. She pointed to the note attached. Harry grabbed the note and opened it. It read:  
  
_DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE.  
_  
It contains your new Nimbus 2000, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one. This was not purchased by me, I sent a note to your parents who immediately agreed to buy this for you as a "Getting Accepted to Hogwarts" Present.  
  
Professor M. McGonagall  
  
"Whoa," Ron and Jeanna both said, reading the note over his shoulders.  
  
"What does it say?" Hermione asked, biting into her toast.  
  
"It's a Nimbus 2000!!" Ron said.  
  
"SHH!!" Jeanna hissed at him.  
  
"I've never even touched one!!" Ron moaned.  
  
"Come on, let's put this up in my room," Harry said. He then added. "Quickly."  
  
They made it all they way to the steps without being asked any questions. As they reached the top step, however, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle showed up. Malfoy grabbed the package and realized what it was.  
  
"You've got a _broomstick_, Potter?" Malfoy said, smiling his evil smile. "You'll be in for this one! We aren't allowed to have broomsticks."  
  
"It's not any ol' broomstick," Jeanna piped in.  
  
"It's a Nimbus _2000_!" Hermione squeaked.  
  
"Well, Weasley," Malfoy said. "You probably couldn't even afford a broom like this! You and your brothers would have to save up for it _twig by twig_."  
  
As Ron took a step forward, Professor Flitwick came up. "I hope we aren't fighting, boys and girls." He said.  
  
"No, Professor," they all chorused.  
  
"Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor," Malfoy quickly said.  
  
"Oh, yes!" Flitwick said excitedly. "What model is it?"  
  
"A Nimbus 2000, sir" Harry said, smiling. "And it's actually thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it."  
  
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Jeanna all walked past Malfoy, laughing at the disgusted, raging, and confused look on Malfoy's face. As Harry packed it away in his trunk, he could hear Hermione calling, "_FIVE MINUTES UNTIL DOUBLE POTIONS!!"_  
  
"Oh, this will be fun!!" Ron said, laughing.

* * *

It may have been the fact that he had Quidditch practice three times a week, or that he has so much homework every night that Harry couldn't believe that it was almost Halloween. Most classes were slowing down their amount of homework, except for the normal two; Transfiguration and Potions.  
  
On Halloween morning, Harry woke up to the delicious smell of baked goods wafting in the air. The moment before he opened his eyes, he could have sworn that he was back at his house, with Lily in the kitchen, baking cookies or some other tasty treat that he and Brooke would eat. But when he opened his eyes, homesickness kicking in, he realized that he was still at Hogwarts.  
  
But the thought of being at home was pushed out of his mind as Ron smacked Harry in the head with his pillow.  
  
"OWWW!" Harry said.  
  
With that, the daily routine began. In Charms, they began to work on the Levitating Charm, so Professor Flitwick split them up into pairs. Harry was paired with Jeanna, Ron with Hermione, who, like most classes, was showing off her know-it-all-bility. Although Ron was friends with Hermione, he still looked disgusted at getting paired up with her.  
  
"Now don't forget that nice wrist movement," Professor Flitwick cried. "Swish and flick! And saying the magic words properly is very important, too—never forget Wizard Baruffio who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest.  
  
No matter how many times he and Jeanna tried, the feather they were supposed to be floating in the air wouldn't move at all. But Ron wasn't doing so good either.  
  
At the next table, he cried, "_Wingardium Leviosa_!" And he twirled his wand around like a windmill.  
  
"Ron, your saying it wrong!" Hermione snapped. "It's Win-_gar_-dium Levi-_o_- sa. Make the 'gar' nice and long, and put an emphasis on the 'o'."  
  
"If you think it's so simple," Ron fumed at her. "then you try it."  
  
"Fine." She rolled up her sleeves, and did the swish and flick while saying, "_Wingardium Leviosa!_" The feather rose about five feet in the air and stopped there as Hermione continued to swish and flick her wand.  
  
"Oh look class!" Professor Flitwick cried. "Miss Granger's done it!"  
  
By the end of class, Ron was in a very bad mood.  
  
"It's no wonder she only has us for friends," Ron said, aggravated, after class. "No one else can stand her!"  
  
Someone brushed by them in a hurry, but they didn't do it on accident. From the bushy hair, it was not easy to mistake who it was.  
  
"I think she heard you," Jeanna said from behind them.  
  
"So?" Ron said.  
  
"She's your _FRIEND_ Ron!" Jeanna fumed at him.  
  
"Why does that matter?" Ron shot back  
  
"You're supposed to be _nice _to your friends!" Jeanna shot back. When Ron glared at her, she sighed and shot off after Hermione.  
  
"Good riddance!" Ron said.  
  
Harry said nothing. He knew that Hermione was a know-it-all, but Ron didn't have to say it, and it was true, Hermione was their friend. He knew Jeanna was right, but if he said anything to Ron, Ron would just get mad at him, so he said nothing.  
  
Neither Hermione or Jeanna was present at the rest of their classes. Harry and Ron began to worry.  
  
But Hermione and Jeanna were soon pushed out of their minds when they say the Great Hall's decorations. Jack-o-lanterns with lit candles in them were floating around the Great Hall, and fake bats flew around their heads. Each of the tables were filled with many treats. Harry overheard Parvati Patil saying something about Hermione and Jeanna. "Hermione's crying in the girl's bathroom. She just wants to be left alone, and that girl, Jeanna, is making sure no one comes in and I think she's trying to comfort Hermione." Harry felt bad, but as he and Ron began to eat, Dumbledore stood up.  
  
"Dig in!" Is all he said. And dig in they did. There was pumpkin pasties, chocolate frogs, and normal dinner food as well (though no one touched it). As Harry was helping himself to a baked potato (he was the only one who was eating the normal food), Professor Quirrell came running in.  
  
"TROLL—IN THE DUNGEON!" He stopped halfway to the teachers table. "Thought you ought to know..." He fell unconscious onto the floor. All of the students began to scream, but their screams couldn't match the volume of Dumbledore's booming voice.  
  
"SILENCE!" Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at the teachers table. "Prefects lead your students to their Common Rooms where the feast will be continued. Teachers, follow me to the dungeons."  
  
Ron and Harry followed the rest of the Gryffindors who were being led to their Common Rooms by Percy and a few other prefects. When they passed the out of order girl's bathroom, Harry pulled Ron to the side. "Hermione and Jeanna!"  
  
"What?" Ron said.  
  
"Hermione and Jeanna don't know about the troll!"  
  
Ron looked green in the face. While they were running in the shadows so no one could see them, Ron asked, "Where are they?"  
  
"I overheard Parvati saying that Hermione and Jeanna are in the girl's bathroom." Harry said, pulling Ron around a deserted corner. They retreated behind a statue as they saw Snape round the corner. "Why isn't he down in the dungeon's with the other—"Harry stopped. "He's heading towards the Third Floor!" As Snape left the corridor, they felt the ground shake. Harry peered from around the side of the statue. He saw the hideous troll. It was a grey-green and was pretty ugly.  
  
He turned back to Ron as the troll went through a doorway. "I think the troll left the dungeon." Ron's face lost all of its color.  
  
They both bolted towards the door that the troll had walked through and locked it. "There!" Ron said.  
  
But as they walked away, they heard two screams. "Oh, bloody hell!" Ron muttered and his face went pale again. Harry ran over and unlocked the door and ran inside. The troll had knocked down the stalls. He could see Hermione's bushy hair sticking out from underneath one of the stall's walls. Jeanna was standing up in the corner, her wand halfway across the bathroom. All of a sudden, the troll grabbed Harry by the ankle and was trying to hit him with his club. Harry was urging Jeanna on. "Go grab your—"He lifted his head up as the troll swung his club. "wand and get Hermione out of here!" Jeanna simply shook her head and shrunk down in the corner.  
  
"Ron—"another swing. "DO SOMETHING!"  
  
Ron looked around for help. He saw Hermione mouthing to him 'swish and flick!' "Right!" Ron said. He looked determined. He threw a pipe at the Troll's head, which missed, but caught his attention. "Oy! Peabrain!" He looked sick. "_Wingardium Leviosa!"_ The club that the troll was swinging was floating just out of reach of the troll's grasp. As the troll jumped for it, Ron stopped the levitating charm and it fell on the troll's head. The troll remained standing for a moment, swayed on the spot, and fell onto the ground.  
  
Harry stood up, shakily and out of breath. It was Hermione who spoke first.  
  
"Is it—dead?"  
  
"No, just knocked out," Harry said, grabbing Jeanna's wand and handing it to her.  
  
"Th—thanks," she managed to say. A sink had been knocked off by the troll and had landed on Jeanna's left foot. Although it didn't break her foot, she winced in pain as she put a little weight on it.  
  
All of a sudden, they heard slamming and footsteps; the teachers had found them! A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bustling into the bathroom, closely followed by Snape, Quirrell bringing up the rear. He took one look at the troll, whimpered, and retreated into the corner where Jeanna had been.  
  
Snape examined the troll while McGonagall looked from Harry to Ron to Jeanna, who was moving some stall walls off of the floor. Her lips were completely white. "What on earth were you two thinking?" She was thinking that Jeanna had gone to the bathroom so she was in no trouble. "You're lucky you weren't killed! Why aren't you in your dormitory?"  
  
Snape gave Harry a piercing look. But a small voice came out of the shadows. "Please, professor, it's our fault." Hermione was being held up by a wincing Jeanna. "We went looking for the troll."  
  
"Misses Granger and Hanale!"  
  
Jeanna piped in, "We both have read a lot about them and thought that we could take it on."  
  
Ron dropped his wand. Hermione and Jeanna were telling a downright lie to a teacher?  
  
"If they hadn't found us, we'd both be dead now. Ron knocked it out with its own club. Neither of them had any time to go fetch anyone. It was about to finish us off when they came," Hermione finished.  
  
Harry and Ron tried not to look surprised at Hermione and Jeanna's story. "Well, in that case," McGonagall said, staring at the four of them. "How could you two think of tackling a fully grown mountain troll on your own?"  
  
Hermione and Jeanna hung their heads. "Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this. I am very disappointed in you both. You better go off to Gryffindor tower to finish the feast." Hermione and Jeanna exited quickly and quietly. Jeanna cast a glance at Harry who gave her a quizzical look.  
  
Professor McGonagall turned to Harry and Ron. "Well, I still say you two are lucky that you could take on a fully grown mountain troll on your own. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will hear about this. You may go."  
  
They hurried out of the bathroom quickly and didn't speak until they were at the Fat Lady Portrait. "We should have gotten more than ten points!" Ron said.  
  
"Five, after they took off Hermione and Jeanna's," Harry said.  
  
"Good of them to get us out of trouble like that," Ron said.  
  
"Mind you, they might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with them!" Harry said.  
  
The Common Room was packed and noisy. Jeanna and Hermione were waiting for them to come. There was an awkward pause as they all muttered "Thanks" to one another and hurried off to get some food.  
  
From that moment on, all four of them were closer friends than they were before...

* * *

And if anyone can tell me (in their reviews) where I got the Living in Troll Time from, you all earn ten zillion not-kristal points. (head bangs to Ghostbusters theme)  
  
I am beginning to write another Harry Potter fanfic. Although I won't tell you what it's about yet! Phil, you'll probably go crazy for not knowing, but you can wait.  
  
Oh, and for all you who care (or are going to one), the Eric Clapton concert ROCKS!!!! 


	10. Chapter 9: Quidditch Matches

Once again, trust me, Jeanna is not taking the place of Hermione. And I will wait one more chapter to tell you where I got Living in Troll Time from.  
  
Go see the Stepford Wives! It's the greatest!!! Ahem, onto the Chapter...  
  
Chapter Nine: Quidditch Matches  
  
Harry's spirits were lifted as November came around, mostly because it was Quidditch season, but another part of him wanted Christmas to come really early. He wanted to go home for Christmas to see him family. But this was pushed out of his mind at one Quidditch practice.  
  
"I've found out who we're going to verse in our first game," Wood told them after one practice.  
  
"Who?" Angelina asked.  
  
"Slytherin," Wood replied. All of the team members groaned. "So that means that we've been working on the wrong kinds of moves. We'll have to work really hard to get that Quidditch Cup this year!" He glanced at Harry, who smiled encouragingly.  
  
"Don't worry, Oliver," he said.  
  
"We'll beat 'em!" Fred and George cried enthusiastically.  
  
But hardly anyone had seen Harry practice. Wood figured that since Harry was the 'secret weapon' of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, he should be kept secret. Many people didn't know that he was good on a broom. People in the hallways would either tell him that he would do really good, or they would be running around underneath him, holding a mattress.  
  
He was glad that Hermione was their friend. If she wasn't, he didn't know how he would get through all of his homework without her. Jeanna borrowed a copy of _Quidditch Through the Ages_ from the Library for Harry to read.  
  
The day before the first Quidditch match, Harry, Ron, Jeanna, and Hermione were all sitting in the freezing courtyard around one of Hermione's blue fires in a jam jar. Harry had brought _Quidditch Through The Ages_ outside with him. As soon as he opened the book to read it, Jeanna hissed, "_Snape."_ All four of them crowded around the jar (because they knew they would get detention) as Snape came striding up to them, limping.  
  
"What is that Potter?" he hissed at Harry. Harry held out his book. "That's from the Library. You aren't allowed to take it outside. Five points from Gryffindor!" As Snape walked away, Ron looked furious.  
  
"He can't do that!!" Ron cried. "He hates you, Harry! He really does!" From that point on, for the rest of the day, Ron went into a rant about how Harry was going to beat Slytherin and show Snape how good he was...or show Malfoy...or all of the Slytherins...  
  
"Plus," Ron added as they made their way back inside, the blue flame disappeared, "he made that rule up!"  
  
"But what puzzles me is," Hermione said, "why was he limping?"  
  
"I dunno," Ron said, angry that Hermione had interrupted his rant, "but I hope it's hurting him like crazy."

* * *

That night in the Common Room was as noisy as ever. Fred and George were the leaders of the noise, while Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Jeanna were huddled around the window, Hermione and Jeanna checked the boy's Charms homework.  
  
"Ron, this isn't right!" Jeanna fumed. "You are such a twit! You don't even_ listen_ to anything Flitwick says!"  
  
Harry paid no attention to them all. He was angry at Snape for taking points away and he really wanted to ask Snape if that rule was written someplace.  
  
"So go ask him then!" Jeanna snarled, still crossing out every other sentence on Ron's essay. "You still have an hour before we can't go outside of the Common Room! And—Ron!" Jeanna pointed at something with the tip of her quill, "—this has nothing to do with Charms at all!" She crossed it out so hard that the ink leaked through the back of the parchment.  
  
Harry quickly left the Common Room and headed towards the staffroom. He had a feeling that Snape would be yelled at by other teachers if Harry asked him when there were other teachers around.  
  
He knocked on the door. No answer. He knocked again. This time he heard a muffled sound coming from inside. He hoped it was another teacher so he could ask them. He pushed the door open slightly and was stunned by what he saw.  
  
Snape was sitting on a chair, holding his robes above his knee, revealing a nasty cut, while Filch was handing Snape bandages. They were alone.  
  
"Blasted thing!" Snape was saying. "How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?"  
  
Harry's eyes widened. He shut the door quietly without being seen and ran straight into McGonagall.  
  
"What were you doing there, Potter?" she asked him.  
  
"I was looking for you," Harry managed to spit out. "I wanted to know if take books from the library outside was against a rule or not."  
  
"No, I'm quite sure it isn't," McGonagall answered him, still looking a bit puzzled. "Why do you want to know?"  
  
"Oh, no reason," Harry lied. He turned a corner quickly and sprinted all the way to the window in the Common Room.  
  
"So, is it a rule?" Jeanna asked. She seemed to be in a much better mood. Harry glanced at Ron, who was rewriting his Charms homework.  
  
"No," Harry said. "But I saw something suspicious..." He told them what he saw in a low whisper.  
  
"You know what that means?" he added at the end. "Snape was trying to get past the three-headed dog on Halloween He's after what it's guarding! And I bet that he let the troll in to cause a diversion!"  
  
"You are really thick-headed!" Hermione said to him. "Professor Dumbledore _trusts_ Snape."  
  
"I'm with Harry!" Ron said. "I wouldn't put anything past Snape. But what's the dog guarding?"  
  
"I don't know," Jeanna said. "But Harry needs to get some sleep. He has a match tomorrow."  
  
Harry went to head with his head buzzing. Neville was snoring loudly, but Harry couldn't forget what he had just seen...

* * *

The night went by faster than Harry wanted it to. With the dawning of a new day, Harry's thoughts were still in yesterday. He wanted answers to what he had seen. He wanted to know what the dog was guarding. But most importantly, he wanted to—  
  
"Eat." Wood commanded him at breakfast the next morning. "You need your strength, Harry."  
  
Although he wanted to win, he wasn't in the mood to eat. As he was about to tell Wood this, Fred stomped on his foot.  
  
"Best just to take a few bites and not say anything," Fred muttered. "Wood'll get angry if you don't do what he says."  
  
Harry obediently followed Fred's instructions. Although it felt like he was eating carpet, Harry quietly finished his toast while Wood watched him like a hawk. He said goodbye to Jeanna, Ron, and Hermione, and headed out to the locker rooms, his Nimbus 2000 in his hand.  
  
Harry dressed quietly. He felt extremely nervous, but a small voice inside his head reassured him. _You've played Quidditch before_, it said to him, _how is this any different?  
_  
_That's true,_ Harry thought. His spirits lifted somewhat as he listened at Wood's speech, which ended abruptly.  
  
"Game time," he said. Harry's stomach churned. He quietly followed Fred and George out onto the field where they were greeted by cheers.  
  
Madam Hooch stood in the middle of the field. _She must be refereeing,_ Harry thought, trying to ease his now-mounting nerves.  
  
"Now I want a nice fair game, all of you," she said once they were gathered around her. Harry noticed that she seemed to be talking mostly to Marcus Flint, the Slytherin captain. Harry looked around the crowd. His eyes flashed straight towards the banner "Potter for President". He felt better.  
  
"Mount your brooms, please." Harry obediently obeyed and clambered on to his Nimbus 2000. Madam Hooch gave a loud blast on her silver whistle. Everybody flew up high into the air. The game had begun.  
  
"And the Quaffle is taken by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor—what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive too—"  
  
"JORDAN!"  
  
"Sorry Professor."  
  
Lee Jordan was doing the commentary, who was being closely watched by Professor McGonagall.  
  
"And she's really bolting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve—back to Johnson and –no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he hoes—Flint flying like an eagle up there—he's going to sc—no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle—that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and—OUCH—that must have hurt, it in the back of the head by a Bludger—Quaffle taken by the Slytherins—that's Adrian Pucey speeding off towards the goal post, but he's blocked by a second Bludger—sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which—nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes—she's really flying—dodges a speeding Bludger—the goal posts are ahead—come on, now, Angelina—Keeper Bletchley dives—misses—GRYFFINDOR SCORES!"  
  
Cheers filled the cold air, with a mix of moans from Slytherins.  
  
"Move along, there!"  
  
"Hagrid!"  
  
Ron, Hermione, and Jeanna squeezed together to give Hagrid enough space to join them.  
  
"Bin watchin' from me hut," Hagrid said, pointing to the large binoculars hanging from his neck. "But 's not the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?"  
  
"Nope," Ron said.  
  
"He hasn't had much to do yet," Jeanna said.  
  
"Kept outta trouble, though, tha's somethin'," Hagrid boomed, raising his binoculars to his eyes and following Harry's every move.  
  
About twenty feet above them, Harry was swiftly flying around, searching for the Snitch. Wood's tactic was for Harry to stay out of the way until he caught sight of the Snitch. "We don't want you attacked before you have to be." Wood had said.  
  
When Angelina had scored, Harry gracefully did a few loops on his broomstick, shaking off his nerves. He continued to listen to the commentary.  
  
"Slytherin in possession," Lee Jordan was saying," Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys, and Chaser Bell, and speeds toward the—wait a minute—was that the Snitch?"  
  
A whisper traveled through the crowds below as Pucey dropped the Quaffle to look behind him at the speck of gold.  
  
Harry saw it. He rushed forward, but as he did, so did the Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs. Neck and neck, they hurtled towards the Snitch—all the Chasers seemed to have forgotten about the rest of the game.  
  
Harry was faster than Higgs—he was almost there, and then—WHAM! Flint had flown in front of Harry, blocking him, and causing Harry to swerve off- course. A roar of rage echoed through the Gryffindor end—and the Snitch had vanished again.  
  
Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and ordered a penalty shot for Gryffindor.  
  
Down in the stands, Dean Thomas was yelling, "SEND HIM OFF! POWER PLAY FOR GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
"What are you talking about?" Ron asked him. As Dean opened his mouth to speak, Jeanna filled in the clueless Ron.  
  
"Power Play!" Jeanna cried over the crowd to Ron. "In Hockey, if a player is whistled for doing something wrong, they get a penalty. Most of the penalties are two minutes long, but there are some that are three or five minutes long. The player goes into the Penalty Box for that long, and his or her team has to play without him, which gives the other team an advantage." Ron looked confused. Jeanna shook her head and turned to watch the game.  
  
But Lee was finding it hard not to take sides.  
  
"After that obvious bit of cheating—"  
  
"Jordan!" Professor McGonagall said warningly.  
  
"I mean, after that open and revolting foul--  
  
_"Jordan, I'm, warning you!"_  
  
"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone...I guess...So, a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away easily, and we continue to play, Gryffindor still in possession."  
  
Harry quickly dodged a Bludger when it happened. His Nimbus 2000 gave a mighty jolt. For a moment, Harry thought he was going to fall off, but he kept his firm grip and stayed on.  
  
_Could I have lost control?_ Harry thought.  
  
_No,_ said a tiny voice defiently in his head. _You're just as good as your father!_ Harry wondered what went wrong, but he didn't think very long because it happened again. It was as though the broom was trying to buck him off. But Nimbus 2000s didn't just try to buck someone off. Harry then tried to fly back to Wood to call a timeout, but he realized that he had no control over his broom.  
  
He began to zigzag all through the air, and every now and then it made violent swishing movements that almost unseated him. Lee was still commentating.  
  
"Slytherin in possession—Flint with the Quaffle—passes to Spinnet—passes to Bell—hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose—only joking, Professor—Slytherin scores—oh no..."  
  
All Slytherins were cheering and Harry realized that no one had noticed that his broom was behaving strangely. It was carrying him farther and farther away from the game, jolting and twitching as it went.  
  
"Dunno what 'Arry thinks he's doin'," Hagrid said, still watching Harry through his binoculars. "If I didn't know better, I would've thought that 'e's lost control of 'is broom...but 'e can't have...'e's as good as 'is dad."  
  
Suddenly, people all over the stadium were pointing to Harry. His broom had started to do barrel rolls, and he was barely hanging on. Everyone gasped as the broom made a wild jerk and Harry was swung off of it, holding on with only one hand.  
  
"Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?" Seamus whispered.  
  
"Can't have," Hagrid said shakily. "Can't nuthin' interfere with a broomstick except powerful dark magic."  
  
At these words, Jeanna seized Ron's binoculars and looked through them towards the crowd. She smiled triumphantly and handed them to Hermione, saying, "I knew it!" Hermione gasped.  
  
"Ron—RON!" Hermione was gasping. "Look at Snape!" She thrust the binoculars at Ron who looked intently at Snape. He was in the middle of the stands opposite them. He had his eyes fixed on Harry and was muttering nonstop under his breath.  
  
"He's jinxing the broom!" Jeanna exclaimed.  
  
"What should we do?" Ron asked.  
  
"Leave it to me!" Hermione said, scrambling quickly towards the stairs.  
  
Ron and Jeanna both turned back up to Harry, who's broom was vibrating violently. Fred and George had flown up trying to get Harry safely onto one of their brooms, but it was no use. Harry's broom continually flew higher and higher. So, instead, they circled underneath him. Flint had seized the Quaffle and scored five times without anyone noticing.  
  
"Come on, Hermione!" Ron muttered.  
  
Hermione had fought her way across to the stand where Snape stood, and was now racing along the row behind him. She didn't even stop to say sorry as she knocked Professor Quirrell over. Reaching Snape, she crouched down, muttered a few well-chosen words, and blue flames shot out of the tip of her wand, landing (and beginning to burn) on Snape's robes. About a minute later, Snape let out a yelp and Hermione ran back to her seat, forgetting to put out the flames.  
  
Up in the air, Harry clambered back onto his now-settled broom.  
  
"Neville, you can look now!" Ron said. Neville had been sobbing into Jeanna's robes for the past five minutes.  
  
Harry was speeding towards the ground when the crowd saw him clap his hand to his mouth as though he was about to be sick—he it the field on all fours—coughed—and something gold fell into his hand.  
  
"I'VE GOT THE SNITCH!" He yelled, waving it about him. Flint began to complain that Harry had almost swallowed the Snitch and hadn't actually caught it. But Harry hadn't broken any rules and Lee Jordan was still proclaiming the score loudly.  
  
"The final score: Gryffindor with one-hundred and seventy points beats Slytherin with sixty points."  
  
But Harry heard none of this. He was being made a cup of tea in Hagrid's hut, with Ron, Hermione, and Jeanna.  
  
"It was Snape!" Ron was explaining. "Hermione, Jeanna, and I saw him! He was cursing your broom, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you!"  
  
"Rubbish!" Hagrid said gruffly. "Why would Snape do somethin' like tha'?"  
  
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Jeanna looked at one another. Harry decided to tell Hagrid.  
  
"I found out something," Harry said to Hagrid. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding."  
  
Hagrid slopped tea all over the table. He hastily sopped it up. "How d'yeh know 'bout Fluffy?"  
  
_"Fluffy?"_  
  
"Yeh, he's mine, bought him offa Greek chappie I met in a pub las' year. I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the—"  
  
"Yes?" Jeanna said eagerly.  
  
"Tha's top secret!" Hagrid answered.  
  
"But Snape's trying to steal it!" Ron said.  
  
"Snape's a Hogwarts teacher! He'd do nuthin' of the sort!" Hagrid said angrily to them.  
  
"So why'd he just try and kill Harry?" Hermione shot at Hagrid. The afternoon's events had changed their views on Snape. "I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid, I've read all about them. You've got to keep eye contact—"  
  
"And Snape wasn't blinking," Jeanna finished.  
  
"I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong!" Hagrid said hotly. "I doan know why Harry's broom acted like tha', but Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now, listen to me, all four of yeh—yer meddlin in things that doan concern yeh! Wha' the dog is guardin' is strictly between Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel!"  
  
"Nicolas Flamel..." Jeanna said, pondering. She stored that bit of information in the back of her mind for later consultation.  
  
Hagrid looked furious with himself...

* * *

EIGHT PAGES! THERE. Now, review, while I write the next chapter. My new story has been put on hold for a bit, as I have no time at all this coming week. My brother's birthday Monday, celebrating Tuesday, physical Wednesday, and dentist Friday. You all will have to wait! 


	11. Chapter 10: Christmas and Whatnot

I have no notices whatsoever at the beginning of this chapter except: School starts in less than two weeks!!! (sobcry)

**Chapter Ten: Christmas and Whatnot**

"Sonna cool na kimi wa plastic!!" was Jeanna's reaction for the next three weeks towards Harry. Finally, after Christmas break started, when it was only the four of them in the Common Room, Harry finally screamed at her:

"WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!"

Jeanna just smiled and replied, "You're cool like plastic." Harry stared at her. "Why am I cool like plastic?"

She just smiled and turned back to her game of Gobstones with Ron. Harry continued to stare at her as Hermione softly cleared her throat to attract Harry's attention. "What?" Harry asked her.

"Well, I visited Japan once with my parents when I was ten," Hermione said. "And from what I remember, there was a really popular singer whose name was Gackt." She paused to see Harry's reaction. He was still staring at her, so she continued. "I think that's a lyric from one of his songs."

"Yeah, it is," Jeanna said, getting sprayed in the face by a gobstone. "It's in the song Vanilla." She wiped off her face with a nearby towel and threw a gobstone at Ron as she said, "I don't care much for games that squirt me in the face." But other than this outburst, it was quiet.

Most of the students had gone home for Christmas. Harry was a bit disappointed when he received a letter from Lily at the start of the Christmas Break. It read:

_Dear Harry, _

_Thanks for writing such a long letter to us after your first Quidditch Match! It sounded really exciting! Your father and I (and Brooke) all wanted to come, but some work came up at the last minute and we had to come right away. I also want to say that you must stay at Hogwarts over Christmas Break. I know you wanted to come home, but your father and I have a lot of work that is to be done and Brooke is going to the Weasley's house to celebrate with Ginny. Don't worry, we'll still send you presents! Love, Mom, Dad, and Brooke_

Harry, the night after the first Quidditch Match, had written his parents a full-length retelling of the entire Quidditch match. He had also thanked them for the Nimbus 2000. He did not tell them his suspicions about Snape and Fluffy. His parents would tell him that it was none of his business, so he did not write to them about it.

To his delight, Jeanna and Ron were staying. Jeanna's excuse was that she didn't want to face her parent yet and Ron's was that he didn't want to be stuck at the Burrow. But Hermione was going home, and to Harry's disgust, was assigning them jobs to do while she was gone.

"You need to keep looking in the library for anything on Nicolas Flamel!" She urged them as all three of them walked her towards the horseless carriages.

"Fine, fine, fine," Jeanna said, quite annoyed.

"Try to find a way into the Restricted Section!" Hermione said as she clambered into the carriage. "Don't ask a teacher, otherwise we may be caught!"

"OK!" Ron said quickly, grabbing a hold of the door, ready to close it.

"Ask your parents if they know a Flamel," Harry said. "It should be safe to ask them."

"Very safe, as they are both dentists!" Hermione said as she waved goodbye through the now-closed door.

* * *

Christmas Eve came quickly and Ron, Jeanna, and Harry all were succumbing to boredom. They had no choice but to continue their search for Nicolas Flamel, but without a note from a teacher, their searches were cut short by Madam Pince. She would breathe down their necks until they would set a book down and leave.

"What we need," Harry said to the other three as he was sprawled on the Common Room floor, "is a good long search without Madam Pince breathing down our necks."

"Yeah," Jeanna said lazily. She had thrown all of the library books down on three separate tables. She herself had pushed three comfy chairs together and was sprawled on them.

"It would be a lot easier than bringing them all here!" Ron said, who had a large book propped up next to the fireplace and was laying on his stomach, reading the same line over and over again. He slammed the book shut in agitation as he threw it onto an empty table.

"And why has this day been so long?" Jeanna said, propping herself up on one of the armrests. "I mean, I know it's Christmas Eve and all, but why? WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE SO LOOOONNNNGGG???" she cried dramatically.

"Give it a rest!" Ron said.

"No!" Jeanna cried childishly. She jumped up out of her seat and began to run up the Girls' dormitory stairs. As Ron followed, however, the stairs changed into a slide and Ron slid down it.

"If you two are done playing childish games," Harry said to them. "then I'm going to bed."

Harry quickly walked to his dormitory, changed and laid down in his bed, waiting to hear Ron's footsteps. But he never heard him because he had fallen into sleep a few minutes later…

* * *

The next morning, Harry woke up with a loud yell in his ears. "Oy, presents!!" Ron cried at him.

Harry opened one bleary eye and noticed a good-sized fuzzy pile of presents. He then sat up and put on his glasses. Ron had already opened up a good amount of his presents.

"Open them up, Harry!" Ron said, stuffing a Chocolate Frog into his mouth.

Harry grabbed the top present which was wrapped in thick brown paper and written on the top was, To Harry from Hagrid. Merry Christmas! Harry opened it up and inside was a hand-carved wooden flute. Harry blew into it—it sounded like an owl. Harry set the flute aside and kicked the wrapping on the floor as he grabbed his second present.

"I think I know who that's from," Ron said. As Harry opened up the box, Ron groaned, "Oh no, she's made you a Weasley sweater! Hey, wait a minute, how does she know you're my friend?"

"I think my parents know your dad or something," Harry said as he gazed at the green sweater with an H on the front. Also enclosed in the box was a case of homemade fudge.

The next present he unwrapped was from Hermione. She had gotten him a large box of Chocolate Frogs. Ron had gotten him a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. His parents had gotten him _Quidditch Through the Ages_, a box of homemade goodies, and a small broomstick service kit. Brooke had sent him a small mixture of assorted wizard candies. Jeanna had gotten him a book on jinxes titled _Jinx or Hex? A Complete Guide to every jinx known to wizards_. Finally, Harry picked up the final present. It was extremely light.

Harry carefully opened it up. Something fluid and silver fell out of it onto the floor where it shimmered. Ron and Harry both gasped. "If that's what I think it is," Ron said, "they're really expensive and really rare."

Harry threw it over his shoulders and looked down; he couldn't see his feet. He rushed over to the mirror and all he saw was his head floating in midair. "It's an Invisibility Cloak!" Harry said, amazed, throwing it off.

"A note fell out of it." Ron said, pointing to a folded piece of paper on the floor. Harry read it aloud:

_This used to be mine, Harry. Your mother didn't want me to send this to you, but I did after she had sent the other presents. Use it well. _

_A very Merry Christmas to you. _

_Dad._

"So, that was your dad's?" Ron asked, still amazed.

"Yeah," Harry said, stunned. This was his dad's cloak. As he finished tucking it away in the bottom of his trunk, the door swung open. Jeanna stood frozen for a moment. As swiftly as possible, she jumped over Ron's pile of garbage and jumped on his bed once; she then hurtled herself over to Harry's bed and jumped on his bed, flopping down on after a few jumps.

"Merry Christmas!" She said excitedly to the two boys. "Thanks for the Chocolate Frogs, you guys!" Harry and Ron looked at each other and laughed. They both had gotten her the same present.

"What did you guys get?" Jeanna asked them.

"Harry got a Weasley sweater!!" Ron said quickly. Jeanna arched an eyebrow as Harry muttered, "Nothing."

"Thanks for the book!" Harry said to Jeanna.

"Yeah, and thanks for the Charms book," Ron said. "Mine is falling apart and most of the text is faded."

"Yeah, well," Jeanna began, "I also got it for you because you need to learn your Charms. And furthermore—" Jeanna stopped in mid-sentence. She was staring at Harry's trunk. A corner of the Invisibility Cloak was still sticking out. "Is that—?" she asked.

"Yeah," Harry said. "An Invisibility Cloak. It was my dad's. He sent it to me without my mom knowing."

"Cool." Jeanna said. Her eyes lit up. "You know what?" she said excitedly.

"What?" the two boys said unenthusiastically.

"We can use this to go into the Restricted Section of the library without anyone knowing!" All three of their eyes lit up.

"Yeah!" Ron said.

"Let's go tonight!" Harry said. The other two nodded.

"But for now, so we don't arouse suspicion," Jeanna said, "we should make our way down to the Great Hall for the mini Christmas Feast." Quickly, they changed into their robes (although they weren't necessary during breaks) and headed down to the feast to eat…

* * *

That night, after many a snowball fight earlier that day, Harry decided to make his way to the Restricted Section of the Library. With a quiet good luck from Ron and Jeanna (who had opened the portrait for him), he headed towards the library, pulling the Invisibility Cloak over himself. Careful not to trod to close to Mrs. Norris or any of the portraits, he slowly made it to the library.

As quietly as he could, he opened the door a crack to see if Madam Pince was still in the library or not. Luckily, she was no where to be seen. Harry lit a lamp to see his way along the unlit rows of Restricted books. He held the lamp close to the books, but the titles told him nothing. Their peeling gold letters made it hard to read what they said. Harry began to hear a faint whispering coming from somewhere near him. He soon realized that it was the books, but he figured he was just imagining it all.

Finally, giving up looking at the titles, he set down the lamp and pulled off the Invisibility Cloak. Pulling out a rather large black and gold book, he opened it up. But he had no time to look at what it said inside. A blood-curdling scream was emitted from the book that echoed through the library.

Swiftly, Harry slammed the book shut and jammed it back into place. It was still screaming just as loud. In his hurry, he had knocked over the lamp and it had broken the bulb. He left it there as he ran towards the entrance of the library, pulling the Invisibility Cloak over him just in time. Filch had just entered the library and was guarding the entrance. Harry managed to slip under Filch's outstretched arms and began to run down the corridor. He ran several flights of stairs and stopped at a suit of armor. His blood drained out of him as he heard Filch talking. _He must know a shortcut!_ Harry thought.

"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody's been in the library—Restricted Section."

To his horror, it was Snape who replied, "Restricted Section? Well, they can't be far, we'll find them."

Harry slowly walked past Snape and Filch in the opposite direction and as he turned a corner, he ran full-speed to the Fat Lady Portrait and ran inside. Jeanna and Ron were asleep by the fire. Harry hadn't the energy to wake them up. He simply plopped into the chair next to Ron and, watching the fire die out, fell into blissful sleep…

* * *

And no I'm not doing the Mirror of Erised because I couldn't think of something Harry really wanted. But it will still be at the end with Quirrell……I think. Hmmmm……(ponders what to do). And inu87yasha (and others), GO READ THE NEW FIC! You haven't reviewed. Only two people have. (throws jonessoda to the two people who reviewed) 


	12. Chapter 11: Flamel, Excuses, And Some Va...

Ok, well, thank you to Rednal29 for reviewing so much. I got online five hours after I posted and I have 16 e-mails waiting for me, all of them reviews. Thanks to all others who reviewed! (throws jonessodas to them) Now, to answer the questions:

No it won't be Ron and Brooke (shudders at the thought). I hate Ron so much and Rupert Grint. I seriously thought about killing Ron off, but I'd get a lot of flames, so...

Yes, I only have one muse so far. I haven't really started to write paper after paper yet in Composition. And frankly, I don't care if there are six periods in a day, it's my fic and I'LL DO WHAT I WANT WITH IT!!! (clears throat) Sorry. My brain kind of exploded for a moment.

HOLY CRAP NO! I WOULD RATHER KILL JEANNA THAN HAVE HER LIKE RON, SHE HATES HIS GUTS! Although it isn't very obvious.

Didn't I change Brooke's age to ten? (goes to fanfic) No, I told you all at the beginning of chapter three where I had some technical difficulties that she was ten. I'll just state it again: Brooke is ten! Not Eight, not Nine! She's the same age as Ginny.

Yes eight pages is long for me after I wrote five of them two hours before I posted it!!!

HAVE YOU BEEN LOOKING AT MY SECRET PLANS, REDNAL29?! Oh, erm...never mind...

The prologue story I have posted is connected with this fanfic. I think I put it in the explanation/summary area.

And don't mind my yelling, or loud typing, or whatever you'd like to call it.

And I got Living in Troll Time from Eric Clapton's song Living in Tulsa Time.

**Chapter Eleven: Flamel, Excuses, And Some Vanilla Giggling Action**

The rest of the Christmas holiday flew by and before the three First-years knew it, Hermione had once again joined them and the Common Room was full and noisy once more. Harry felt more at home now that the school year was continuing, although he didn't know why he felt this way.

He told the other three the entire story of his Restricted Section journey. Hermione's reaction was what he had expected. "You could have been caught by Filch!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, but he wasn't," Ron said. Hermione shot him a glare. But the thing she was most upset about was that they hadn't found anything out about Nicolas Flamel.

"Not even a minor detail or fact?" she asked them.

"We told you already NO!" Jeanna said, exasperated.

As classes began again, they began to search through all of the books again. They had almost given up hope of ever finding Flamel. Harry had hardly any time to look at books because Wood was pushing their team harder and harder at each practice. Although the weather had turned from freezing snow to cold rain.

After one practice, Harry came back to the Common Room drenched and with a fallen spirit.

"What's up?" Ron asked him.

"Snape's refereeing the next Quidditch match!" Harry growled.

"Oh, bloody—"Ron began, but was cut off by Hermione.

"Pretend to be sick!"

"No, actually be sick!" Jeanna suggested.

"Pretend to break your leg!" Ron said.

"_Really_ break your leg!" Jeanna said.

"I can't chicken out, you guys!" Harry said, aggravated at their useless, stupid ideas. "Gryffindor doesn't have a backup Seeker so if I don't play, they'll kill me. And we'd have to forfeit the game!"

"Oh." Ron said, returning back to his homework.

"Sounds like a good plan!" Jeanna said, giving him the thumbs-up sign and returning to her Charms essay.

"Harry, it'll all be resolved somehow," Hermione said. "You'll win, don't worry. And besides, the game is a two weeks. You shouldn't worry about it yet."

"You're right," Harry said, "Besides, I've got to catch up on my homework. But I can't do it tonight, I'm tired out. I'll do it in the morning." And with that, Harry slowly made his way up to his dormitory to wash up and go to bed before Ron even stepped foot on a step.

* * *

The next two weeks went by so fast, Harry hardly realized what was happening around the school. He had even forgotten to keep looking for Nicolas Flamel, even though Hermione bugged him every day to keep his mind on Flamel.

But even though Harry wanted the school year to end so he could lounge around at home, he wanted time to stop as he realized one Friday night that the Quidditch match was the next day.

After dinner that night, Harry slowly made his way into the corner of the room that the four of them had claimed as their own. Jeanna, Ron, and Hermione were already there, waiting for him. Ron was covered with books and papers, frantically scribbling down facts from a book, Jeanna was staring intently at the wall, Hermione's face was hidden behind a rather large book. Harry dropped his bag of books as loud as he could. Ron jumped, Hermione looked up, Jeanna simply smiled and continued to stare at the wall.

"_Baka_," she whispered. Harry paid no attention to her, but instead he plopped down into the nearest chair.

"So..." Harry said, trailing off.

"We've been sitting here since you came back from the......place where you went to," Jeanna said.

"Hey, what was up with you eating chocolate pudding? Usually you eat vanilla pudding," Ron said to Jeanna. Jeanna giggled and withdrew her gaze from the wall to Ron.

Still giggling, she replied, "They were all out of vanilla."

"They're never out of anything!" Fred said from behind Ron. Ron jumped.

"They were out of vanilla pudding," Jeanna said, still giggling.

"Well, whatever," George said, staring at Jeanna with a puzzled look on his face. She stopped giggling and turned her gaze back to the wall. "So, Harry," George said, turning to talk to Harry, who was still staring at Jeanna. She was mouthing words and swinging her head back and forth. "How are you feeling about tomorrows match?"

"Uh..." Harry said, "I don't want to play."

"He's gonna break his leg," Jeanna said.

"NO I'M NOT!" Harry fumed.

"No, Harry," Fred said. "That's—"

"A good—"

"Idea!" The two chorused.

"Well, see you later!" Fred and George took off towards the staircase to their dormitories.

Harry turned back to gawking at Jeanna, who was now singing:

_**koi ni shibarareta specialist nagai tsume o taterareta boku  
ai o tashikametai egoist kimi no oku made tadoritsukitai**_

As Harry opened his mouth to ask Jeanna what the crap she was saying, Neville somehow managed to get through the portal. His legs were almost glued together and stiff so that he couldn't bend them.

"Neville, what happened?!" Ron said to him. Hermione faintly looked up and gasped as she saw Neville. But Jeanna was quicker, she jumped up and ran over to Neville and performed the counter-curse.

"It was Malfoy and the girl!" Neville managed to say.

"Pansy Parkinson?" Hermione suggested. Neville nodded.

"They ran into me outside of the library and said that they needed to practice their spells on someone." Neville said.

Harry clenched his fists at the thought of it. Neville climbed over into an empty chair next to Hermione. He scrambled through his pockets of his robe and found a Chocolate Frog, which he threw to Neville. "You're worth one-hundred of them." Neville caught the Chocolate Frog and gave Harry a sheepish smile.

"Thanks," he said, eating the Chocolate Frog. "Here," Neville said, throwing the card at him. "You collect them, right? You can have it." Neville smiled as Harry said thanks and he went up to the dormitory.

"Dumbledore," Harry said. "He was the very first one I got. I got him when I was five and—"Harry stopped and gasped. Jeanna stopped singing and turned to look at him.

"I found it! I found Flamel!!" Harry cried. "Look: '_Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel.'!_" Ron grinned, Jeanna giggled, and Hermione jumped up.

She ran up to her dormitory and didn't appear for five minutes. All of a sudden they heard someone running down the steps. Hermione appeared with a large book in her arms. She jumped into her chair as she began to whisper excitedly, "I never thought of looking in here! I checked this out weeks ago for a bit of light reading." She began leafing the through the pages of the book as Ron whispered to Hermione, "You call this light?!" She glared at him as she stopped looking through the book.

"I found it!" She began to whisper again. The other three leaned in close. "Nicolas Flamel is the only _known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone!"_

"The what?" Ron said, puzzled.

"Honestly Ron," Jeanna said to Ron. "Don't you read?!"

Hermione began to push the book towards Ron to read, but Harry decided not to have it take ten hours for Ron to understand, so he said, "The Sorcerer's Stone can transfer any metal into pure gold and it creates the Elixir of Life, which makes whoever drinks it live forever. I remember my dad telling me that Nicolas Flamel holds the Sorcerer's Stone and just reached his four-hundred and sixty fourth birthday."

"No......that was Gackt." Jeanna corrected him.

"Oh, well, whatever." Harry said.

"It was his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday this year!" Hermione corrected them.

"I still like Gackt better than Flamel though," Jeanna muttered to Harry.

Harry quickly interrupted Hermione's rant about Flamel and Jeanna's rant about Gackt as he whispered to them, "Shh!" They both looked at him. "That's what Fluffy is hiding! That's what Snape's after! It's the Sorcerer's Stone!"

Hermione smiled, but Jeanna interrupted her from saying anything by scolding Harry. "_Heeri, Nemuru o ikite kudasai!_"

Harry stared at her. "Sorry, I don't speak Chinese."

"Japanese," Jeanna corrected him, "and I said, 'Harry, please go to sleep.' If you want to win, then you need sleep."

"Right." Harry agreed. He bid them all goodnight and headed to his dormitory, where he met the loud snores of Neville...

* * *

**Translations**

_Baka_—Idiot in Japanese

_Heeri, Nemuru o ikite kudasai_—Harry, please go to sleep! ïƒŸ--or something along the lines of that. It's probably not right, but everyone thank Mellysa for helping me!!

And the lyrics Jeanna sings is from Vanilla.

And the giggling thing is an inside joke for J-Rockers, if any of you J-Rockers _know._ AND I CAN'T STOP CAPITALIZING VANILLA!! It's so hard not to!! I mean, look: Vanilla. Vanilla. I can't just type (Vanilla with a line through it) vanilla!

Sorry it took so long to update, my muse took a long vacation and then finally decided to come back. (sigh) School starts in two days.

No Quidditch Match in this Chapter. Although I almost feel like making Gackt show up and be the referee instead of Snape, but I won't because that would make CM5K mad, so, I'll restrain myself. And sorry it's so short, new and unused Muses have taken over!

**Ares:** Oh, shut up. You just never used me before!!

You shut up!

**Ares:** Fine. But please stop playing the PV to Kimi No Tameni Dekiru Koto!

NEVER!! MUHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Half of this time (while watching Gackt e-Ma commercials) I began to write Jermione. It was quite funny as I watched Gackt's eyebrow's go continually down. Heh, Gackt is the coolest in the world. Never watch Gackt PV's while you're writing, you tend to misspell a lot of wirds. I mean words. Garcky is what Kristal typed for some reason when she was trying to y... No, no, let me explain. I was going to type Harry with a 'G' like she typed Jermione, but I ended up starting to type Gackt... and well. Garcky.

I'll try to update as much as possible. I don't have a full week of skool for three weeks. Hee.


	13. Chapter 12: The Match Is At Hand

_(Sigh)_ Ok CM5K, I'll try not to include Gackt too much in it. (rolls eyes) Inu87yasha has no problem with me being a Gacktaholic (Maybe because he likes Gackt).....or whatever you wish to call me. I'll try to get this done as fast as I can, but still make it long......and good......

**Chapter Twelve: The Match Is At Hand**

Harry woke the next morning, bright and early, listening to the fading hoot of an owl outside. As he realized what was going to happen that day, the feeling of dread swelled up inside of him once again. He knew that he had to play. He didn't want to show the Slytherins that he was a coward just because their Head of House was refereeing and bound to call anything against Gryffindor.

Slowly, Harry reached for his glasses on the bedside table. He looked at the lumpy beds all around him. All of the others were still sleeping. Harry couldn't tell how early it was, but he knew it was just past sunrise because the sky was still quite pale. He put on his glasses and clambered out of bed, putting on his robe. He didn't want to change into his Quidditch robes yet. The game wasn't until the afternoon and he wanted to relax for the morning and not think about it.

He slowly walked past Ron's bed and down the stairs to the Common Room. Harry noticed that the fire was burning bright. Brighter than it should be in the early morning. A large chair was set by the fire, but Harry could only see the back of it. Another chair about the same size was sitting across from it, but it was empty. Harry walked over to it, not bothering to look at the other chair and sat down, closing his eyes. The warmth of the fire felt good on his face. A soft voice echoed through the room.

_**kono machi ni kite hajimete no nichiyoubi**_

_**wake mo nai no ni dokidoki shite mado o aketa...**_

Harry jerked open his eyes. Jeanna was sitting by the fire, her eyes closed. She was curled up in the chair like a kitten. Harry whispered, "Jeanna?" She didn't answer. She was sleeping. Harry crawled over to her. He could see a tear streaking down her face. He stared for a moment, comprehending what to do. He simply sat back down in the chair opposite her. He stared into the fire until his eyes slowly blurred and his head began to slip off of his hand and he fell asleep.

* * *

"Harry..." A voice said soothingly in his ear. Harry slowly opened one bleary eye. He could see Jeanna standing over him. "Hmeehh.." was his answer, although it was inaudible.

"Harry..." This time, he could tell that it was Hermione's voice, and she sounded quite worried. She leaned towards his face as she asked, "Is he alright?"

Jeanna's words were loud, but there was a sense of sensitivity to them. "Don't be silly, Mi. He's not dead......" she laughed. "But if he is, I sure hope we can find a backup Seeker in time for the game that's in a few hours!" Harry's eyes slowly opened. "See?" Jeanna said to Hermione. "He's fine. He just fell asleep."

"But—But!!" Hermione couldn't find the right words to say. She stomped off. "I'm finding Ron!" Harry lifted his hand and grabbed the end of something fuzzy. "Jeanna, let go."

"Jeaaaana?" Harry said through a yawn. Hermione whirled around.

"Oh, Harry!" she said, a tinge of pink coming to her cheeks. "I was worried that you had been injured....or something....ummm...I'm going to find Ron to tell him..." she trailed off as Harry let go of her robes. She bolted up the stairs to the boys dormitory. Harry yawned and sat up. His legs were asleep, so he didn't move them. He looked down at Jeanna, who was kneeling by the chair. She looked tired; rings were under her eyes.

"What's up with you?" Harry asked her.

"Oh...umm..." Jeanna stammered. "Well, Hermione woke me up with her shriek of terror really early..."

"Uh huh." Harry said dully. Hermione and Ron came down the steps to join them. "I wanted to ask you something..." he looked at her, and she stared at him. He had the feeling he shouldn't ask in front of Ron and Hermione. "Why were you sleeping down here anyway?"

"Oh!" Jeanna said, surprised at his changed question. "I woke up early and decided to come down and sit. I must've fallen asleep." Harry nodded as though he understood, but he made a mental note to ask her about something else.

"Well," Ron said, yawning. His hair was sticking in all directions and his clothes were crinkled. "This's been a lovely night. ImtiredImgoingtogotobednow." He made to get up, but Hermione grabbed his arm and yanked him back down. He fell down backwards and stayed like that.

Hermione glared at Ron. "Git." She said. "I'm going to change." She stood up and walked up the staircase.

"Meetoo." Ron said and he dragged himself over to the staircase and up the stairs. Harry finally managed to move his legs so he was in a more comfortable position.

"So," Harry said to Jeanna, who looked a bit flustered. "Why were you down here?"

"I told you!" Jeanna said.

"Yeah, but when I came down here at daybreak, you were sleeping, but you were singing something in Japanese...AND..." Jeanna tried to interrupt. "You had...or were, crying."

"I was thinking of an ending to a movie. It was a sad ending." She said sternly.

"And what movie was this?"

"Moonchild."

"Does this happen to star Garky?"

"It's Gackt! And no, it was starring Hyde..." she paused and looked at Harry, who continued to smile. "......And Gackt."

"Ahh...alright," Harry said, standing up. "I guess that will have to pass as an excuse. But I want to know sooner or later! THE TRUTH WILL BE REAVEALED!"

Jeanna glared and stomped off to the dormitory. "And, if you were wondering," she called to him. "You have one hour to change, eat, and get on the Quidditch field to play the game. That is...if you aren't late showing up at the lockers. _And _if you don't tick anyone else off!" She cackled and continued to go up the stairs. Harry's eyes widened. _One hour?! _He bolted upstairs, past Ron's bed, which the curtains were drawn around. As fast as he could move, he changed into his Quidditch robes and quickly made his bed. He raced downstairs, hardly noticing that Ron was standing, waiting for him.

"Hey Ha..." Was all Harry heard Ron say. He flew down the steps as fast as he could as he jumped over Neville, who was crouched over to pick up Trevor. Neville squeaked in terror, but Harry continued to run. He made it to the Great Hall to find that there were only a few people there. Had he missed lunch already? It couldn't have taken him that long to get there. He sat down at the Gryffindor table, his back turned against a sneering Pansy Parkinson, and he noticed that Malfoy was not with her. He turned to his plate as Ron sat on his right, Hermione on his left, and Jeanna across from him. She was grinning. He gave her a puzzled look.

"That's what you get for not knowing Gackt's name!" she said through giggles as she silently ate her vanilla pudding.

"What time is it?!" he said angrily.

"Eleven thirty," Ron said. Harry whipped his head back to Jeanna, who was silently giggling.

"Never...do that...again!" Harry said through clenched teeth to Jeanna, who paid no attention to him. She had stopped giggling and was looking behind Harry. He turned around.

At the Slytherin table, Pansy Parkinson was sitting in between Crabbe and Malfoy. She was sneering and antagonizing him. He noticed that Crabbe and Goyle were just sniggering, but Malfoy was sitting silently, paying no heed to Pansy. He was reading the Daily Prophet while eating a sandwich.

"Whoa," Ron said, turning around to see what the two were gawking at. "That is weird. Everyone knows that Malfoys hate Potters...And Malfoys hate Weasleys. That's weird."

"Duh," Jeanna said.

"That is odd," Hermione said. "Normally, he'd walk over here with his whole gang and start taunting you, but he's not even joining in the festivities."

Harry turned around. "_Festivities_?"

She blushed. "I meant festivities for them! You know I'd never make fun of you!" He grinned and nodded, turning back to his BLT.

"I'm not that hungry," he said, setting down his sandwich.

"You have to eat!" Hermione said.

"Mi's right," Jeanna said. "You do need to eat. You need to be able to whip the other team's butts!" Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Fine," she said. "But if you don't want a sandwich, try a nice bowl of vanilla pudding!" A bowl appeared in front of him. He smiled at Jeanna. He decided to eat it. It cheered him up a little as Ron began to rant about how stupid Malfoy was.

Before Harry knew it, Wood was beckoning him to go out to the lockers. He hardly heard a word of what Wood said, and all of a sudden, Harry was standing outside of the lockers, walking out onto the field. He then realized how nervous he was. SNAPE WAS REFEREEING! How could he have forgotten? He was stupid to be so careless that morning, sleeping in and all.

Ron, Hermione, and Jeanna, meanwhile, had found a seat in the stands next to Neville. He couldn't understand why they had brought their wands. And why only Ron and Hermione looked grim...Jeanna seemed to be enjoying the weather...or something...

Down on the field, Harry was barely managing to keep up with the rest of the team. Luckily for him, Fred and George were walking slowly, their faces paler than normal. Harry looked across the field and noticed that the Hufflepuff team looked quite relaxed. Harry's anger intensified as Snape came out of the shadows by Madam Hooch and mounted his broom.

Fred nudged Harry. Harry looked at him as Fred said, "Blimey...even Dumbledore's come to watch!"

"_WHAT?!"_ Harry said. He quickly looked up. Sure enough, Harry could see Dumbledore's silver beard between a few of the teachers. Harry smiled. He could have even laughed with relief. He was safe! Snape couldn't harm him when Dumbledore was around.

Up in the stands, Hermione was peering at Snape. "I've never seen him look so angry! Why would he be?"

Jeanna tapped her on the shoulder, but she just shrugged it off. "Uh...Mi?" Jeanna pushed the binoculars up to the Teacher's Box.

"Ohhhhhhh!" She said. She turned the binoculars down to where Harry was. He had mounted his broom and was looking quite pleased. "Harry must've realized that Dumbledore's here too. Good."

"Yeah, but I just hope that he gets the Snitch quick!" Ron said. He soon heard a cackling behind him. Not daring to turn his gaze from the starting game, Ron quickly said, "Malfoy."

"_Baka,_" Jeanna replied.

"What was that, Hanale?" Malfoy said.

"_Baka,"_ she said again. She whipped around. "I could say things a lot worse, but I'm holding my tongue. You should learn to do that too."

"Oohhh!" Pansy said from next to Malfoy.

"At least I'm not a Mudblood that doesn't speak English!" Malfoy replied.

Jeanna stiffened, but only said, quite loudly, "_Butabara Baka."_ She returned to the game. Malfoy was left standing, gawking. Hermione groaned as Snape awarded Hufflepuff a penalty because George had hit a Bludger at him.

Up much higher in the sky, Harry was circling like a hawk for the Snitch. As Snape awarded another penalty to Hufflepuff for no reason, Harry went into a spectacular dive towards the ground.

In the stands, Malfoy had made a snide comment, but it was drowned out by the crowds cheering.

Harry was grinning as he sped towards Snape at full speed. He watched as Snape watched something scarlet miss him by inches. As Snape looked down to see what it was, Harry triumphantly smiled and held up the struggling Snitch.

The stands erupted into cheers. No one had ever seen the Snitch be caught that fast. Hermione was jumping for joy, as was Ron. Jeanna was screaming, "EXHOY!" Harry jumped off of his broom as the crowds came onto the field. Harry was glomped several times by Hermione and Jeanna who had somehow made it onto the field in no time flat. Snape spat bitterly on the ground. Dumbledore was politely clapping in the stands, but Harry didn't have time to look up.

He heard gently, familiar laughter through all of the screaming. He looked around but didn't see anyone besides his friends and Hogwarts students. As Ron began to say something, he heard the laughter again. It was coming from behind him. He turned around to see Lily, James, and Brooke standing by the wall. Dumbledore had come down from the stands and was talking to them. Harry waited until the crowd had cleared a bit before he went over to them. As most of the students left, Harry ran over to them in a matter of seconds.

Lily intercepted him before he reached them. She hugged him tight as she laughed again. "Well done!" She said, still hugging him. Brooke came over with wide eyes.

"HOW CAN YOU FLY SO FAST?" She fumed. "TEACH ME!!" Harry just looked at her, amazed that she said something.

"Sure. Over the summer I will," he replied. Lily had withdrawn her hug as he walked over to James.

He grinned as he said, "I don't think I could have done that without hitting Snape......of course, I would have purposely hit him..."

"James," Dumbledore said warningly. "I thought you settled that little feud eleven years ago."

"Oh yeah..." James said, trying not to look too suspicious. Dumbledore simply smiled and turned to leave.

"I shall leave you alone," he said in his mysterious voice. "You have much to talk about amongst yourselves." With a swish of his billowing midnight-blue cape, he walked away.

Brooke was still staring at him, but her gaze was withdrawn as she saw Jeanna coming towards them, followed by Hermione, who was pulling Ron.

"Hi!" Jeanna said, smiling at Brooke. Jeanna's hair was curled into ringlets and a few of them were pulled back. She glanced at Harry, who was staring at Brooke, wondering what was so weird about Jeanna...then he remembered.

"You're parents said that you had gone to a school far away, but I never thought you'd be going to Hogwarts!!" Brooke said excitedly. "I miss you!" She flung herself around Jeanna's stomach, since she was so much smaller than Jeanna. Jeanna hugged her back.

"Jeanna..." Lily said in awe. "We wondered..."

"Yeah..." James said uninterested.

Jeanna smiled sweetly. "Well, I would've figured that Harry would have told you in his letters..." she turned to look at him, who quickly looked away. She shook her head. "But I assume that he didn't..."

"No, he didn't," James said, stepping towards Harry "menacingly", who diverted his attention away from the stands and to his father.

"No, nuh uh!!" Harry said. James continued forward, a joking smile on his face. Harry jumped back and grabbed his broomstick. He quickly jumped onto it and flew in the air, out of James's reach.

"HEY!" James yelled jokingly to Harry. He laughed and went back to where Lily and the others were standing. Hermione had finally dragged Ron into the small circle. Ron was rubbing his ear, while Hermione was chattering away with Lily, and Jeanna was talking with Brooke, who hadn't stopped hugging her.

"Really?" Lily queried Hermione.

"Yes!" Hermione said excitedly. "I'm very happy, too!" Lily smiled and turned to James.

"Would you mind getting your son back on the ground?" she asked him wearily.

"Sure..." James said, wondering why Lily seemed so tired. "Harry, come down!" he said. Harry looked from Lily to James, then back again. He sighed and landed on the ground.

"Introduce us to your friends!" Lily said. Brooke let go of Jeanna, who looked relieved.

"This is Hermione Granger." Harry said, nodding towards Hermione, who smiled sweetly. "That's Ron Weasley." Lily and James both smiled at him. His ears turned red. "And that's Jeanna."

"_Hi_!" She said to them. She saw something out of the corner of her eye as the rest of them began to talk. She turned her attention toward what she saw, but all she could see was a hooded figure go into the Forbidden Forest. She shrugged her shoulders and turned her attention back to the circle of people.

As it began to get dark, it began to get quite cold. Jeanna and Hermione huddled together for warmth and Brooke nudged her way in between them.

Lily finally was so cold that she had to sit down. Harry was worried. He had never seen his mom have to sit down for just being cold.

James quickly walked over to her, making sure that the kids were still talking. "Harry, what's wrong? You look worried." Jeanna said, shivering.

"Nothing," he replied. "It's just, my mom seems...I don't know..."

".........Alright then, if you say so," James said. Harry and the rest of them looked over at them. Brooke made her way over to Harry.

"Is mama alright?" she asked him, grabbing a handful of his robes, and hugging him.

"Yeah," he replied, watching Lily stand up and walk over to them. She smiled warmly at the picture of Harry and Brooke.

"We should head inside," she said. "It's cold out here."

"Alright." Harry replied, prying Brooke away from him. "When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow," Lily replied as they began to walk. "So you can show us around the school."

"I wonder if I can still find all of the passages..." James said, pondering. Lily hit him on the shoulder.

"Don't make a bad example, James!" she said.

"Sorry."

As they walked through the entrance to the castle, Jeanna took one last look at the Forbidden Forest and wondered whether she really saw anything at all...

* * *

**Translations**

The first Sunday after I came to this town

Even though there was no reason why, my heart was racing and I opened the window...

_**kono machi ni kite hajimete no nichiyoubi**_

_**wake mo nai no ni dokidoki shite mado o aketa...**_

THE CUTE SONG!! This is Marmalade by Gackt off of Rebirth. He sings so cute in this song! Anyway...

_ImtiredImgoingtogotobednow_ -- I'm tired. I'm going to go to bed now.

_Meetoo_ -- Me too.........if it's not obvious enough for you all. No offense to any of you.

_Butabara Baka--_ Pork Belly Idiot. xD I love that phrase. "It's just the sound of _Butabara_. _(laughs)"_ Gackt on Utaban.........sorry CM5K ITS FUNNY! Especially his actions......ah Gaku, you never fail to entertain!!

_Hi_ -- Yes (in Japanese)

**Ares: **Finally! No more of that Gackt Kimi No Tameni Dekiru Koto crap.

HEY! THERE IS NO DISSING GACKT AROUND ME!! YOU KNOW I WILL KILL YOU! OR STAB YOU WITH A Q-TIP!

**Ares: **Sorry...I just got fed up with it all!! So many times.

Well, I'm still listening to Gackt, is that any better?

_Sarenia:_ Not really, no. And now it's Mizerable and that other one too...

_(glares)_ Fine. NO ONE DISS HIM IN FRONT OF ME I WILL EXPLODE. Not really, I'll just explode at my neighbor for making fun of Gackt. Grrr_...(shoves him into a locker)_

And for Kristal's information, if it will make you feel happy, Malfoy was eating a Gacktwich. Heh. And if it doesn't, then he was eating a BLT.

AND THEY CUT THE COOL CORVETTE COMMERCIAL FROM THE AIR AND I'VE NEVER EVEN SEEN IT!!! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Sorry about not updating in a while. Schools been horrid! And the muses are being stupid_...(glares more)._

Heh. Eating a sandwich...that's not as good as "Have you seen my pants?" _(laughs hysterically)_ MELLYSA! UPDATE-ITH!

And a lot of you are probably wondering what Harry will be hearing when the Dementors get close to him...._(cackles) _You'll just have to wait and see...I am evil!

And I'm going to use one of the characters from Fruits Basket to be Brooke, so the description of her I must change......(_is too lazy at the moment)_ Ah well, here's the url: h t t p : w w w . l u n a r e g i n a . c o m / f u r u b a / a n i m e 9 6 . j p g

Brooke is the one that you can see completely. The character from Furubu is actually Kisa......the other in the picture is my hero, Momiji!! He's 15, half-German, and wears the girls uniform to school...HE'S SOOOOO CUTE!!!!

Brooke is the same age as Ginny if you forgot. Just a reminder. And yes, I'm making Brooke into a midget for now...not really a midget, just shorter...


End file.
